Red Sand
by jennaravenrose
Summary: She just wanted to go to Vegas and dance. Fate has other plans unfortunately and they will not be denied by time or space.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Red Sand

Fandom Star trek 2009

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Star Trek characters or settings. The only one I can claim is Samantha and Pike's daughter Alex

240 years ago: and eight hours

This time it was different. The halls were deserted instead of filled with scientists. For some reason this scared her and she began to run. She ran to where they kept him first and he wasn't there. She tried the lounge and the yard, even the gym but he was nowhere to be found. None of them were and it was beginning to worry her. I mean it wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself but still he was her friend. She heard the banging and shouting and rushed towards it. The door to the hall opened as she neared it and she walked into the control room.

If there was one place that knew where he was it was here. She glanced around at the hundreds of monitors. She spotted them right away. They were locked inside some sort of tank. She vaguely remembered him saying something about tests to see how long they could hold their breath.

This one wasn't filled with water though it was filling up with some sort of gas. Some of them were banging on the glass trying to break it. She turned her gaze to the screen next to it and found the scientists having some sort of party.

She pushed the button for the audio feed.

"It should only be a few more minutes and we can call this project a wash" said one of the scientists.

She recognized him as Singh. She remembered that he hated that he shared a name with this horrible little man. Her stomach dropped. It wasn't a test they were trying to kill them. Fury flared and Sam searched for the door overrides. She found the ones for the tank and hit the open buttons. One of them flung open the outer door and the hall filled with smoke. They stumbled into the hall all eighty two of them. She spotted his black hair before he disappeared out the door.

The scientists didn't seem to notice that their quarry had escaped yet. She flipped the switches to turn on the fans to dissipate the gas in the hall. The smoke cleared and he looked up at the camera. He looked angry and so did the others. Same locked the doors leading to the outside and then one by one unlocked the doors between the scientists and them. She watched as they made their way towards the scientists.

Her gaze fell on the party again they still were oblivious. Sam locked the control room door and sat down. They reached the door and Sam held her breath. The door slowly opened and his followers rushed into the room. It was like watching an extremely violent movie in slow motion. She closed her eyes and shut off the audio. The bright spot of crimson on the screen drew her attention. He was staring up at the camera like he knew she was on the other side. She touched the screen right where the side of his face was.

"run sweetheart, I'll find you" said Sam

He seemed to have heard her or one of his friends said something to him. He turned away and nodded to whatever the man said. One of them started lighting fires and the rest left the room in search of more victims. It was time to leave. Sam stood and made her way towards the door.

She exited the control room into acidic smelling smoke and the smell of copper. As she made her way towards where she came in she noted the bodies. She tripped over one and screamed when she landed in his blood. She scrambled away. Footsteps were running in her direction. She wasn't sure if his followers would recognize her as a friend so she ran.

Someone shot at her and then she woke with a scream dying on her lips. When she sat up her room had a Smokey haze hanging in the room. Her door swung open before she could reach the window to air it out.

Samantha closed the door to her Volkswagen. The trunk was full to bursting and so was her backseat. With the exception of her crappy thrift store furniture everything she owned was in her car. She turned and looked back at her mother standing in the doorway. She looked sad with that shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Sam wanted to give her a hug but they were never the hugging type. Her stepfather was not home at the moment and it would make this a whole lot less pleasant if he was. Sam mouthed I love you and climbed into the driver's seat and cranked the engine. Her cat in the carrier next to her gave a frightened mewl.

"Easy Watson it's going to be all right" said Sam

The cat gave his equivalent of an indignant snort and curled up to sleep. Sam shifted the 69 bug into reverse and pulled out of the driveway. Drove it out of town and headed for the highway 44 heading out of Tulsa. It was going to be a long trip to Vegas. Everything was fine until she hit the outskirts of Albuquerque. That is where it all went south. She was driving across a bridge when suddenly it wasn't there and she was free falling. Sam screamed she knew she did because the last thing she remembered hearing was the dying echo of that scream.

5 years ago, awakening

The sound of beeping and muted voices greeted her as she finally opened her eyes. When she finally did she screamed because what was leaning over her was the biggest bug she had ever seen. The bug back peddled and hit a panel on the wall. Some guys in white came into the room but by this time she couldn't stop screaming to acknowledge them. One of the nurses stuck a shot into her neck and she was out again. When she awoke again she was restrained but the doctors she saw from then on were human.

She figured out it was a hospital on the third day. It wasn't until the fifth day that she actually found out what was going on. They released her after she talked to the psych guy, who asked her all about her hometown and a bunch of questions about her interaction with aliens. After she laughed her ass off at him, and he asked the year, she abruptly sobered when he said it was 2253 not 2013.

She sat there trying to process what he was trying to say and drew a blank. Her mind just refused to function. They put her in a padded room for a few days when she went catatonic. She could hear the doctors talking about her or to her but for some reason other than a slight twitch to her eyebrow she acknowledged nothing for the next few weeks. So they called in a specialist, a man with pointy ears that reached into her head and woke her back up. She blinked and slowly registered the being in front of her. Was she dead and if so what gives with the lord of the rings want a be staring at her?

For the next few days she went through the motions. Moving through this world as if stuck in a daze. On the third week they brought in the lady from social services and talked to her about her options.

"Level of education?" said the woman

Sam frowned at her

"Tenth" said Sam

"Tenth what you were tenth in your class, what" said the woman

Sam turned back towards her. Noted the woman's first name was Molly,

"No tenth grade" said Sam

The woman, no Molly, frowned at her.

"Tenth grade of what?" said the woman

Sam looked confused then irritated. It seemed to be her perpetual mood in this place. She didn't used to be this easy to irritate.

"High school, tenth grade of high school, I dropped out" said Sam

The woman tapped away at the tablet in her hands. Sam frowned at her wondering if the tablet thing was the replacement for the cell phone.

"Why?" said Molly

Sam sighed and bit her nails.

"I hated the drama" said Sam

The woman looked less than impressed and tapped a few things on her screen. Sam could care less.

"Okay, I set you up for transitional housing and got you a temporary I. D. I've enrolled you in classes so we can see where you are at academically. Please be advised there are several species that call these buildings home for months at a time" said Molly

Sam guessed she was saying this because of her less than favorable reactions to some of the alien species.

"My things?" said Sam

Molly hesitated.

"I will see what I can do" said Molly

"What about Watson?" said Sam

"Watson?" said Molly

"My cat he was in the car with me" said Sam

The woman gave her a sad look that was clearly pity.

"I'll inquire" said Molly

She walked out of the room with a swooshing sound as the doors opened to let her out. Sam watched her go for a few minutes then moved towards the window and stared out of it. A city stretched out as far as the eye could see, all glittering towers of glass with strange vehicles that looked like flying cars moving along multi- level highways. It was like some surreal artist's depiction of the future yet here it was. It still didn't feel real.

The apartment was a small studio sized apartment with a tiny kitchenette, bathroom and sitting area that had a fold down Murphy bed. Her bags were sitting on the floor along with a note that said sorry about the cat.

School was a strange experience. A thoroughly modern affair that involved electronic textbooks on one of those tablets that they called a PADD. Languages weren't limited to just earth ones and everyone seemed to want to make it into some place called Star Fleet. Sam was sitting in her first class waiting for it to begin. There was some giggling behind her and Sam guessed it was because she was dressed retro as one girl had put it earlier.

She ignored them and tried to see if there were any good games on this Padd thing. So far all her classes had made her feel stupid and she just wanted the day to be over. She really wanted a round of angry birds to let out some pent up frustration.

The door swooshed open and a woman walked in, she had pointed ears too. Sam stared at her in shock. Yeah she had seen a few aliens around the complex, which turned out to be some sort of home for war orphans too old to be placed with a family, but she really didn't interact with them.

The woman said something in her native tongue and looked at the class. Sam guessed she was waiting for a response. Sam thought about what she said. It sounded like one of the greetings the aliens said to each other. The woman looked right at Sam and she mouthed a very quiet

"Moi Loma" said Sam

Which she was sure meant good morning or something like that. The woman smiled and tapped her desk with her fingertips as she passed.

"Moi" said the teacher and thus began the only successful class experience she ever had.

It took her a year and a half to graduate. As she stood on that stage waiting to get the chip that said she graduated, she still felt out of place and she missed paper. Doing so well in the Vulcan class made others jealous, so she didn't make too many friends. Of the few she did make not one of them understood her.

"So have you considered it?" said Alex

She was a short dark haired girl with glasses who made a remark about her clothes on the first day. They had been friends ever since.

"No honestly I haven't" said Sam

Alex pouted.

"Well why not you've got the marks, seriously you should consider star fleet" said Alex

Sam rolled her eyes. Alex was forever going on about how great the academy was and that she couldn't wait to explore space. Sam balked at the idea. People were meant to be on the ground. Back home you couldn't get her on a plane to save her life and she detested those flying cars. No way was she even considering space.

All of this still felt surreal even when she saw footage of her dramatic rescue from underneath the ice flow. An earlier article talked about a sinkhole swallowing up half the bridge but search crews never found her car at least not back then.

Sam was still not sure why she didn't die back then. She should have, she knew that now but it still hasn't sunk in that she was really in the future.

They called her name and Alex rose to go forward to claim her diploma. They called Sam next and she walked towards the man. He held out the diploma to her with a smile on his face. Samantha took it and stood next to her friend with the other graduates. It took them a while to finish up. Sam wandered away from the festivities when they were done, while family members embraced their graduates behind her.

Sam had no one to do that here and it only made her feel more alone to see it. She headed for the exit and made her way to the public tram that would take her back to her place. She got a few strange looks because she was still wearing her cap and gown.

She did it she graduated now what? She got off at her stop and made her way up to her door. Made herself some noodle cup and ate it in front of what passed for television in this day and age.

She fell asleep on her couch and the buzzing of the com woke her. She hit the button to answer it before she realized it had visual.

"Yeah?" said Sam

It was Alex and she was so excited she was squealing

"Al chill it's... Six in the morning and I haven't had any coffee yet" said Sam

"I'm coming over I'll buy you coffee, get dressed you look horrible" said Alex

Sam just barely resisted the urge to flip her off. The com went off and Sam groaned, she had hoped that when Alex went off to star fleet that it would be the end of those early morning phone calls.

Sam wandered towards her bathroom and fired up the weird sonic shower thingy. She really missed water, what she wouldn't do for a real bath, in a tub with her loofah and bubbles. She turned so the spray could get her back. Learning to use the different cycles on this thing was just another of those things she had to get used to here.

She climbed out and reached for a towel then stopped not really seeing the need to bother with one at all. She walked to her closet picked out some jeans and a t shirt and threw them on. Her door buzzer rang and she called for it to open. Alex walked in.

"Where's the coffee?" said Sam

She grabbed a brush and attempted to tame her curly frizz of hair.

"I figured we could get it down town" said Alex

She was beaming and for some reason it worried Sam. She slid her shoes on and keyed in the code to lock her door. Alex grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the lift. Alex was still bouncing with excitement and Sam wanted to ask why. The lift stopped and Sam had to run to keep up with Alex's pace as she hurried to the bistro down the street.

She grabbed a seat and punched in their order on the table menu just as Sam sat down

"So what is going on?" said Sam

Alex dug into her bag and pulled out a chip

"We got in" said Alex

"Got in where and did you say we?" said Sam

"The academy silly and of course I said we, I got daddy to write you a recommendation" said Alex

Sam stared at her in shock.

"Daddy?" said Sam

Alex nodded and Sam vaguely remembered seeing a man in what looked like a military uniform.

"Why would he and who is your daddy anyways?" said Sam

Alex gave her a look that Sam instantly classified as irritated.

"Daddy is Captain Pike, and after I told him about your background, he wrote out a recommendation for you with no questions asked. Isn't it wonderful!" said Alex

Anger flared she hated it when people made decisions for her.

"Al... I thought I said I didn't want to go" said Sam

Alex looked hurt and Sam felt bad. Alex had been one of those painfully shy kids that didn't make friends easy either

"I just thought we could be roommates, I thought..." said Alex

She looked like she wanted to cry, so Sam held out her hand.

"Let me see it" said Sam

Alex sniffled and slid the chip across the table towards Sam.

She picked it up, inserted it into her PADD and started reading. Halfway through she teared up and had to stop.

"It's good huh?" said Alex

Sam nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Yeah I didn't... I've only talked to the man once" said Sam

Alex smirked

"Yeah but you made a lasting impression, he really does admire your independence" said Alex

Sam sighed.

"Then I suppose I should give this place a chance" said Sam

A week later they were waiting for a shuttle to take them to the academy grounds in San Francisco. Sam wondered if it was too late to follow her original plan and head for Vegas. Would she even recognize the place now? The shuttle was landing and Sam eyed the metal box with trepidation. Why couldn't the academy be in a place they could reach by train?

Alex was practically bouncing beside her. Sam wondered why she let Alex talk her into this again. The shuttle door opened and the group moved forward and got in some sort of line. Sam wanted to hang back but Alex pulled her forward.

"Letter miss?" said the guy at the door.

Sam held out her acceptance letter and the man waved her inside. He did the same thing to Alex. She tried to get a seat by the window and Sam almost sighed in relief when she noticed the only remaining ones were single seats. Sam quickly snagged two in the middle and Alex sat down next to her.

"This is so exciting!" said Alex

The guy on the other side of Alex gave her an amused look.

"She doesn't get out much "said Sam

He smirked and Alex hit her shoulder.

Sam shrugged

"What its true" said Sam

Alex glared at her

"I'm Alex and you are?" said Alex

"Charles Tucker the second" said the man

He looked at Sam

"Samantha Morningstar" said Sam

He smiled at her.

"First time on a shuttle ladies" said Charles

"Yeah shows that badly?" said Alex

Sam sat back and let the girl flirt, because it was such a rare occurrence that Sam was disinclined to interfere.

The ship tilted and the engines changed pitch. They were landing and Sam sighed in relief. They finally opened the doors and Sam quickly undid her harness and grabbed her bags. She had her clothes, her violin and journal, everything else she put in storage.

She could always retrieve it later when she got her own place if she got her own place. She was staring at the academy and wondering if she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.

"It looks a bit intimidating doesn't it?" said Charles

"Just a little" said Sam

She looped her guitar case over her shoulder and picked up her bag.

"Is that a violin?" said Chuck

"Yep and she plays real good too" said Alex

"I'd love to hear you play sometime" he said

Sam almost gave him a noncommittal grunt but Alex agreed for her. Sam rolled her eyes and headed for what she hoped was the administration building

"Where are you going we have to check in over here?" said Alex

She dragged her away from her lame attempt at escape and towards the sign in table. A box of chips like objects was sitting on a table in front of several older students. A line was forming in front of each table. When they reached the front the cadet behind the table asked her name.

The cadet compared it to a list she had and then dug through the box for one of the chips. She handed the chip to Sam and she verified it was hers in her Padd. She nodded to the girl and moved aside to wait for Alex. While she waited she went over her schedule. Most of the things it had on it were things she didn't understand even understand the title of. This was going to be a rough year.

Alex skipped to her side looking very chipper and Sam remembered that Alex was one of those people that got good grades without seeming to have to try. Whereas Sam had to work her ass off to just get average marks.

"Well what did you get, let me see" said Alex

Sam handed her Padd to Alex and took hers.

"Ooh great we have three classes together" said Alex

She was frowning though.

"What's wrong?" said Sam

"They have you in a different dorm building, damn it I was hoping to be roomies this year" said Alex

Sam shook her head and chuckled.

"Come on we should at least check out our rooms and see where we have to go next" said Sam

She wanted to get this over with because she was hoping who ever she was rooming with was one of those absentee types. They reached Alex's dorm first and Sam parted with her after giving her back her Padd. She really needed a moment to think. This was all very overwhelming and she felt very out of place.

Like she was some sort of imposter playing a part they never rehearsed for or even tried out for. She found her building and paused. She took a deep breath and walked inside. She had to wait for the turbo lift because a crowd of girls was already standing there. She waited for them to herd into the lift as it opened, grateful there had been no more room in that small car. She waited until it was almost to the last floor before she hit the button for it to return.

When it came back down it divulged another avalanche of girls before Sam was able to climb on board. She hit the close button quickly and sighed in relief that she was the only one in the car this time. It opened on her floor and she walked out looking at each door plate for her room number. She found it towards the end of the hallway and keyed in the code next to the room assignment on her Padd. It unlocked and she walked in. It wasn't particularly huge. Two desks on each wall. Two beds on different sides of the room a single bathroom, two wardrobe cabinets and a huge window. Both beds seemed unoccupied so she chose one nearest the window and set her stuff down. She opened the wardrobe cabinet on her side, shoved her bags and violin inside. Closed it and reset the lock to something she could remember.

She made up the bed to show that this side was claimed already and headed for the door. She could always do the meet and greet later. She picked up that Padd thing off her desk and went down to greet Alex. As she exited the room a green skinned girl was getting off the lift. She was carrying way too much luggage and Sam had to hold the lift door just to keep the girl from getting stuck.

"Thanks" said the girl.

"Any time" said Sam

She climbed on the now vacated lift and pushed the button. She lifted the Padd thing and read the next item on her schedule.

"Great orientation" she muttered.

The door slid open to another waiting crowd and Sam pushed her way through the press of people trying to get on the lift she just vacated. She was panting by the time she reached the door after nearly getting stampeded by the crowd.

She exited the building in time to see her friend walking up the steps with Charles in tow. He tripped over his own feet and nearly went down

"Easy there Trip Tucker, no need to kiss the ground we've already landed" said Sam Alex giggled

"Very funny" said Charles.

He tripped four more times on the way to the auditorium for the orientation. So the nick name looked like it was going to stick despite his protests. Alex thought it was adorable that he was so klutzy so he kind of let it go.

Orientation was a bunch of boring lectures and then they were shuffled off on a tour. Sam was paying attention to the class numbers and comparing them to her list. She had her classes mapped out by the time the tour guide asked if there were any more questions. One of the larger kids held up his hand

"Yes?" said the guide

"Where is the mess hall?" said the kid.

The man rolled his eyes and pointed down the hall. Sam raised her hand

"Yes young lady" said the man

"Where is medical?" said Sam

The man nodded

"It's this way and next on our list, if you all will come with me" said the guide

Several students gave her strange looks. They filed down the corridor and around a corner. The guide pointed out the doors to the mess hall and then moved on. He led them all through some doors.

"Everyone please pull out your data chips and line up. When you get to the woman hand her your chip so she can scan your medical files into the system" said the guide.

There was some grumbling but everyone did as he asked. The nurse asked a few of them to come back and Sam hung back. She really didn't want to explain why her birthdate said 1997 which in this time period would make her a very old lady

"Come on stop hiding" said Alex

She grabbed Sam's arm and dragged her into the line behind the large guy who asked about the mess hall. The kid stepped forward and handed his in. The nurse scanned it and handed it back to him. Alex bounced forward and held hers out. The nurse gave her a wry smile and took the chip.

She scanned it and handed it back to Alex. It was Sam's turn so she stepped forward and handed the chip to the lady. She plugged it into her scanner, then unplugged it and handed it back to her. Sam almost sighed in relief. She started to step away.

"Miss Morningstar please come back this afternoon you need an update on your immunizations" said the woman

Sam stepped aside and the woman took the next kids chip.

"Hypos yuck" said Alex

She gave Sam a sympathetic look as they rejoined the group that had already been processed. There was only a few people remaining to go and the nurses were moving quite fast. The last two finally came out and the guide moved them on towards the library. Sam was a bit disappointed to learn there were no actual books. After the library they were scheduled to go to the mess hall and then just to follow the schedule that appeared on their Padd for the rest of the day.

In Vulcan

Moi Loma- good morning

Moi- Good


	2. Chapter 2

Red2

Her arm was sore by the time she headed back to her dorm room. She wasn't all that hungry so she just grabbed a roll and an apple and headed out the door. It was a nice night, slightly cooler than she was used to. She stopped and looked up at the stars. What was she doing here? She sighed and looked at the buildings surrounding her. She had never felt more alone than she did right now. She closed her eyes briefly then reopened them and finished her trek.

She climbed the stairs and headed for the elevator. The lobby was deserted and the only ones making noise were the ones too excited to sleep. She pushed the button and waited. Anyone who had been here for more than a year would know better than to party. The elevator was deserted and so was the hall. She unlocked her door and walked into the room. There was a lump on one of the beds that looked like a person. She sighed finished the last of her apple and dropped it in the can by her desk. She flopped down on her bed and fell asleep. The sound of water running and someone humming woke her up the next morning.

She groaned and rolled over. One eyelid popped open and then quickly closed when sunlight burned it. She rolled away from it and stumbled to her feet. Rubbed her face and made her way towards the bathroom where the singing was coming from. She knocked on the door

"Hey you just about done in there?" Sam called.

She felt gritty and needed to brush her teeth for sure. She was relieved she didn't dream again. The last thing she needed was the stress of those dreams coming back on top of having to deal with these classes. A box was sitting on her desk and she crossed over to it. She lifted the red garment out of the box. It was wrapped in plastic because it had never been worn. There were three in the box and Sam briefly recalled the guide saying something about rotating them throughout the week, while she washed the other two. Sam frowned red was definitely not her color. The bathroom door swished open

"All yours" said a chipper female voice.

Sam frowned great she was a morning person just wonderful.

"I picked up yours, when I picked up mine" said the girl

Sam turned and froze. Standing in the center of the room was a girl with green skin, she was brushing out some seriously messy chestnut brown hair. Sam just stood there and stared. She ironically was reminded of Christmas with all the red and green. The girl started to turn because Sam hadn't said anything in reply.

"Ah thank you" said Sam

She said feeling just a bit awkward that she had been staring at the girl.

"I know the color is hideous, I feel like one of those holiday figurines. You know for those little guys with the Vulcan ears" said the girl

She was leaning towards a mirror and was putting some earrings in her ears.

"Ah elves?" said Sam

"Yeah them, all I am missing is the pointy shoes and the horrible hat" said the girl

Sam giggled, okay for an alien she was alright.

"I know I'm going to look hideous in this and I don't know if I even have shoes that will go with it" said Sam

The girl put the back on her other ear and glanced towards sam.

"Whatever you choose make sure its regulation or they'll pitch a fit, I'm Lela by the way" said the girl "Samantha" said Sam

"I'm surprised they placed you with me, not that I'm complaining mind but doesn't your species get headaches when you're near us too long?" said Lela

Sam shrugged because she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Who knows besides they gave me a bunch of shots yesterday maybe one of them was for that" said Sam

She was walking towards the bathroom.

"Better hurry or you will miss breakfast" Said Lela

She didn't sound all that concerned and Sam wasn't that big on breakfast anyways. She heard the door swish shut about the time she started up the shower. Sam still made it fast because she still had to decide what she was going to wear with that uniform. She stepped out and didn't bother with the towel again. She opened her closet and dug through her bags for her undergarments.

Pulled them one and then held up the uniform. It was way too short and she hadn't shaved her legs that high up. She grabbed a pair of black biker shorts and pulled them on. Covered it with the uniform and looked for suitable shoes the only black shoes she had were a pair of sandals and some high heeled hooker boots. She shoved them both back in her bag and pulled out some red converse and some black socks with little cherries on them. They would have to do. She tugged them on grabbed her faded messenger bag covered in music group patches, shoved Her Padd inside and a note pad so she could take notes.

Some of the students in high school used to make fun of her for not typing her notes out but she was faster with a pen and paper. She shoved a couple pens into the holder and closed the bag. Grabbed her hairbrush and then secured her hair in a scrunchie that matched her socks. She flung her bag over her shoulder locked up her wardrobe and headed for the door. She closed it and keyed in the code to lock it. She walked towards the elevator at a quick pace. It was blissfully empty and when she reached the mess hall it was almost deserted.

She grabbed one of the sole remaining muffins and ate it on the way to her first class. She slipped into the back of the class just as it was about to start. The teacher hadn't even started yet and she was able to log in for roll call when it flashed on the screen in front of her. The man in the black teacher's uniform was writing something on the large glass like blackboard at the front of the room. Sam watched as the words appeared on the screen. Sam hit the button that would stream the blackboard notes to her Padd then dug out her notepad for the man's verbal lecture.

As the man talked she shorthanded notes while other students typed away on their Padd's. He asked questions and Sam did her best to follow along with what the man was teaching. The bell finally pinged and Sam closed her notepad and shoved her Padd back into her bag. She flung it over her shoulder and followed the moving group of students to the door. She blended with the throng and headed for the next class. It was mostly the same as the last one and Sam moved on to the next one when the chime sounded again. Alex fell into step with her on the way to her next class.

"So how's it going?" said Alex

Sam snorted, this felt absurdly like high school except for the fact everyone was a nerd here. Trip was walking in their direction and Alex slowed to wait for him. Sam smirked at her friend when she blushed and giggled like a school girl when he said something only marginally funny.

"So what do you ladies have next?" said trip

He was staring at Sam with a funny look on his face.

"Ethics, you?" said Alex

"The same, ah Sam was it?" said Trip

"Yep" said Sam

"What are you wearing?" said trip

He was staring at her shoes. Sam smirked at him

"Oh she always dresses a bit retro why?" said Alex

Trips eyes lingered on her legs for a bit.

"it's just that I'm not sure if that's regulation" said trip

"I looked in the manual and no one's said anything but you so far" said Sam

She really hoped they wouldn't because she had a real issue with how much leg this skirt showed already. The last thing she wanted to do was flash the male student body her underwear when she sat down. Sam noted Alex had no issue with the skirt but then again Alex always had really nice legs.

"I know but the commander is a bit of a stickler for the rules" said trip

"Noted" said Sam

Trip opened his mouth to say something more but they were at the class. Sam wanted them to sit in the back like she usually did but Alex headed for front and center. Sam swore under her breath and followed her friends. She hated sitting up front it was where the teachers usually looked for answers. She sat down with a groan and glared at Alex. She was about to chew Alex out when the teacher walked in. He was tall with dark hair in an almost widows peak hairstyle and with noticeable pointed ears.

Great another Vulcan, she thought as she pulled out her Padd and notepad. He gave her a strange look that Sam pointedly ignored. She didn't care what he thought about how she learned her work would speak for itself. She pulled a pen out and uncapped it, looking at him in expectation. He raised an eyebrow but moved on. He started writing things on the board so Sam set hers up to transfer again because he was talking as he wrote. Keys were being tapped at a furious pace all around her.

She tuned out the noises her classmates were making and just wrote. He called on several of them several times. Sam noted he called out the ones that tried to hide in the back by making them participate in the conversation. He received stumbling answers and lots of I don't knows. He moved on when the last person gave him a totally clueless answer. He was looking around the room trying to find someone to call on. Sam followed the direction of his gaze wondering if anyone in that area had even caught the answer he had just given in his lecture. His gaze shifted back to where Sam was sitting. Her stomach sunk.

"miss..?" said the teacher

"Morningstar and it is yes, every time you borrow someone's work you should cite it" said Sam

He nodded impressed that she had at least been listening. Sam wondered how many of his students didn't.

"very good Miss Morningstar, and how should you cite it and why?' said the teacher

"Within your work by either mentioning the author by name or by putting their name and the date of publication within parenthesis within your work" said Sam

He looked momentarily shocked for a second, then nodded

"Very correct" he said and moved on to another student.

By the time the bell rang Sam was feeling like she had survived a trial by fire. She put her things away and stood up to leave.

"one moment Miss Morningstar, I would like a word with you" said the teacher.

Aubrey gave her a worried look but followed trip out the door. He waited until the room was clear before he talked. She watched him look her over and she was suddenly a bit worried about being alone with him.

"Miss Morningstar is there an issue with your skirt?" said the teacher.

Sam looked down at it. It rode up to the upper part of her thighs even with the biker shorts.

"Now that you mention it does seem a bit short" said Sam

"I see Miss Morningstar I'm going to be frank with you, this is not with in regulations." He said

"Your shoes are the wrong color they are supposed to be black and the shorts are not part of the uniform. I am going to have to ask you to refrain from wearing them in the future" said the teacher

Sam frowned, now what was she going to do, the skirt was indecently short. It would show her underwear without the shorts there to block the view. He did not give her a chance to respond and instead dismissed her. Sam fumed but refrained from punching that smug bastard. She headed to her next class wondering what she would do tomorrow.

Maybe she should just resign, conformity wasn't her strong suit. She slunk into her next class and gave I don't know answers to questions she knew the answers to. Alex gave her a questioning look in the class before lunch. Sam debated on whether she wanted to finish out the day or just go back to the dorm and pack up her stuff. The bell rang and Sam picked up her bag she hadn't bothered to even take notes in this class or to set up her Padd. She headed for the door before everyone else had their stuff packed up.

"all right what gives what did he say?" said Alex

Trip had lagged behind to let the two girls talk.

"Oh just that I have to flash everyone tomorrow if I don't want to get written up and to wear black shoes" said Sam

Alex snorted.

"Come on Sam the skirt isn't that bad" said Alex

Sam shook her head no

"No it's not if you don't have hips or an ass like I do" said Sam

Alex scoffed. Sam pointed to a point on her thigh where the skirt had ridden up even with the shorts on.

"It came to right here Alex, you would be able to see everything. If I want to give a bunch of old perverts a show I'll go to Vegas and get paid for it at least" said Sam

"What's this I hear about Vegas?' said a new voice

Alex groaned and turned towards the newcomer.

"go away Kirk this is a private conversation" said Alex

The newcomer feigned injury and covered his heart with his hand

"ouch Pike that was cruel, so Vegas?" he said

Wiggling his eyebrows at Sam and Alex. Sam started walking away from them.

"Lay off Kirk and go away" said Alex

Sam could hear the clack of her boots on the tile floor behind her. Sam groaned as Alex steered her away from the doors she was about to escape through and towards the mess hall instead.

"Come on you'll feel better once you eat something, I'll even give you my pudding" said Alex

Sam lips gave a little half twitch that was as closest she came to a smile at the moment. Behind them she could hear the newcomer asking Trip a few questions.

"why not she's got very nice ones" said Kirk

Sam really didn't want to know what they were talking about from then on out. She really didn't care what Kirk though she had a nice one of. Alex dragged her into the lunch line and punched in Sam's order and then hers.

"what's your code?' said Alex

Sam sighed and reached past her to key in her passcode. She didn't even look at what Alex had ordered. Their trays slid onto the counter and Sam reluctantly grabbed hers. She followed Alex towards the table. Kirk stopped to talk to another green skinned girl and then got this embarrassed look on his face.

"He's a year ahead of us and a real player" said Alex

Sam frowned because she had been staring at Kirk's backside. She wasn't even interested so why was she staring at him. Alex sat down at one of the tables and she noted that Kirk had grabbed a tray and was heading there way and so were several other seniors. Sam frowned at her food. Alex had gotten her a chicken salad sandwich, some grapes and a two chocolate puddings.

She glanced over at Alex, to find the other woman giving her a worried look. Sam sighed because Alex had seen right through her mood and straight to her intention to leave.

"spock chewed her out about the uniform" said Kirk

He was talking to his friends as they joined them at the table. Kirk flopped down on her other side. "Don't let him get to you he's harsh to everyone" said Kirk

He smiled at her and she found herself grinning back at the man.

"Jim kirk" he said

He paused after he said it, like he was expecting something after the declaration

"Samantha Morningstar" said Sam

She took his offered hand and shook it. He looked her over and smirked

"Have to say it's a unique look though, are those converse?" said Kirk

Sam smirked and nodded yes.

"those things are like antiques, where did you find them?" said kirk

Another man and a woman sat down next to trip. The dark skinned woman kept giving Jim a dirty look like she couldn't stand him. Sam bit into her sandwich and just immersed herself in her friends company.

"he chewed you out didn't he?" said the woman

Sam looked up at her and nodded because her mouth was full of food. The woman looked Sam over with a critical eye. She felt Alex stiffen beside her. The woman frowned

"I can see why. You should have just worn the uniform the way it was intended, everyone else does" said the woman

"Oh lay off Uhura, maybe she didn't like showing that much leg" said Kirk

Sam silently cheered him on, maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. The woman known as Uhura snorted and finished her food. She got up and left the table and Alex muttered bitch under her breath after she was gone.

Sam was marginally cheered up by the time she left lunch but as much as she hated it Uhura had been right. Everyone else was wearing the uniform as it was intended. So why couldn't she. I mean she was driving to Vegas to get a job in a strip club for crying out loud, she shouldn't have any issue with a skirt this short.

Even if it was practically a micro mini on her. Maybe she could see if they had it in pants. Sam sat in the back in her next two classes and skipped dinner. She headed back to her room and spent the rest of the night trying to come up with ways to cover up the shortness of that skirt without resorting to anything underneath it. Alex buzzed her Padd four times and Sam finally took out the battery so she could think.

She finally settled on a plan and drifted off to sleep after setting her alarms so she could catch an early morning run. She need to run through her plan mentally at least one more time and also to gather the courage to implement it. She had her things packed in case they overreacted and kicked her out.

Sam's roommate was just stirring so Sam slipped into the shower first. This time she did use a towel and exited the bathroom just as Lela stumbled out of bed. Sam pulled out her hooker boots, her dancers tape, make up case and fishnet stockings. She smirked wickedly and plucked her g string from the pile on her bed. Slid them on and grabbed her push up bra. She had reread the regulations last night and they did say you could wear stockings instead of socks.

They said nothing about heel height or boot types, Nor anything about jewelry. Sam had a plan. If those perverts wanted to see them dressed like whores then so be it. Sam slid the thigh high fish nets on and fastened them to the clips on her garter belt.

"Wow! Who is he?" said Lela

"A pesky instructor I want to see eat his words" said Sam

"Which one?" said Lela

"Spock" said Sam

She slid on the uniform Lela smirked at her

"can I help?" said Lela

Sam smiled at her.

"Do you know anything about hair?' said Sam

Lela snorted

"My sisters run one of the best salons in seven systems, do I know hair" said Lela

"Cool, sure then" said Sam

"Just let me get ready, here plug this in" said Lela

She handed Sam something that might have been a curling iron before she disappeared into the bathroom. Sam pulled out her make up and started applying it. She was comparing lipstick shades to her uniform when Lela came out of the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" said Lela She had her hands full of hair accessories and styling gear.

"trying to decide if I should be offended that our uniforms match my fuck me red lipstick or if I should just go with it and wear it" said Sam

Lela giggled.

"I would wear it but wait until after I do your hair" said Lela

She set the supplies down and gave Sam a once over. Sam picked up the dancers tape and frowned. She undid one of the stockings and wrapped her ankles one at a time while Lela organized her supplies.

"what is that?" said Lela

"Dancer's tape it helps support your ankles and prevents swelling' said Sam

"Dancer? You dance?" said Lela

She was sorting through clips and holding them up to see which ones would look best in her hair.

"Yep took four years of ballet, modern and hula when I was little. Plus gymnastics and Yoga" said Sam "wow, were you trying to go professional or something?" said Lela

She was holding two sets of clips in her hands then suddenly nodded and set one of them down.

"I did want to dance on Broadway but circumstances changed and I was heading to Vegas" said Sam "what changed?" said Lela

She grabbed a brush and started working it through Sam's hair.

"I fell into a sinkhole and ended up frozen in a glacial flow for a few hundred years" said Sam

The brushing paused.

"No way seriously, that can't happen can it?" said Lela

"Yeah it can, unfortunately" said Sam

"So you're like a really old lady" said Lela

Sam wasn't sure if the woman was trying to be insulting or not.

"Yep oldest on the planet" said Sam

Lela giggled.

"Actually I think there's a Vulcan that has you beat by a few decades" said Lela

"yes but do they look as good as I do?' said Sam

Lela giggled again and her fingers brushed Sam's neck with a touch too controlled to be casual.

"No, veatasi none of them look near as beautiful as you" said Lela

Her voice had taken on a seductive tone that for some reason worried Sam that maybe her roommate wasn't into guys.

"Ah thanks" said Sam awkwardly

"So why Vegas?" said Lela

Suddenly changing the subject into safer waters or at least marginally safer waters. Sam vowed to spend as little time in her dorm room alone with this woman as she could.

"A friend of mine went there after she graduated and got a job at one of the clubs, she was going to help me get a job there too when my dad kicked me out" said Sam

Lela paused again Sam turned towards her. The woman looked sad.

"He kicked you out?" said Lela

She sounded shocked for some reason.

"Yes we never got along to begin with, so it was bound to happen sooner or later" said Sam

She pulled her boots on and adjusted the back so the tape didn't show through the lacing in the back. Lela nodded in understanding.

"My father and I never got along either, where did you get those boots? They are so cute" said Lela "Fredrick's" said Sam

"Fredrick's?" said Lela

"Yeah Fredrick's of Hollywood, it's a lingerie slash clothing store" said Sam

"Oh!" said Lela.

She picked up the curling iron and proceeded to make ribbons of soft curls after tying the majority of it on top of Sam's head. Sam did her make-up and decided to use the bright red that matched the uniform. She unzipped the top just a little because the push up bra was making it a bit tight. Sam smacked her lips and stood up.

"Well?" said Sam

"Damn!" said Lela

Sam grabbed her leather trench coat in case it got cold and to drape across her lap in the other classes. "Hold up" said Lela

She walked over to her shelves and retrieved a small glass perfume bottle

"here wear this" said Lela

Sam eyed the bottle

"what is it?" said Sam

"It's called dreamers tears, it enhances your natural pheromones. Mine won't work on a Vulcan but yours would" said Lela

Sam smirked and opened the bottle. She dabbed a little bit at each pulse point.

"In case this goes badly thanks" said Sam

She was fighting dirty and she knew it but she didn't really care. Sam gathered her things and headed for the door.

"Wish me luck" said Sam

She ducked out of the room and walked towards the elevator. Her stomach was doing flip flops so she slid on her coat. She was nervous and starting to rethink this plan by the time she reached the mess hall. Male heads turned as she walked by and she quickly grabbed a tray and slid into the empty seat next to Alex.

"Oh my god what are you wearing?" said Alex

Sam adjusted her coat so Alex could see the full outfit.

"holy cow are you trying to get kicked out?" said Alex

Sam briefly wondered if she was indeed trying to get kicked out.

"What it's all regulation I looked them up" said Sam

Alex gave her an opened mouth stare and then groaned. Sam turned to see Kirk and McCoy walking towards them.

"Oh lord close your coat" said Alex

Sam ignored her and picked up her spoon. Both male voices stopped talking abruptly behind her.

"Well hello there, what's your name?' said kirk

He sat down next to Sam she giggled because it was funny that he didn't recognize her.

"Jim it's me Sam" said Sam

He looked her up and down his eyes lingering a bit too long on her chest.

"Sam? Sam? Samantha? "said Kirk

"Yep that's me' said Sam

She took a sip of her orange juice being very careful not to wipe off all of her lipstick.

"You look good" said McCoy

Sam turned towards him and smiled. He was staring with wide eyes at her.

"Thank you Leonard" said Sam

"So what gives with the new look? not that I am complaining mind you" said Kirk

"Oh no you're not" said Alex

"Not what?' said McCoy

"Commander Spock talked to her about her uniform yesterday" said Alex

Kirk frowned.

"What was wrong with your uniform yesterday?" said McCoy

"She was wearing some biker shorts under it yesterday "said kirk

He looked down at her legs and licked his lips.

"I like the stockings better" he said

he moved closer to her and inhaled deeply. Sam eyed him warily.


	3. Chapter 3

Red3

The bell rang and Sam stood up. Kirk was still staring at her and she was starting to get nervous because of it.

Kirk stood with her and Sam did her best to ignore him as she put her tray away.

"Just wear the coat maybe no one will notice" said Alex

"Chill out Pike she's regulation they can't do anything" said Kirk

Alex turned to yell at him then abruptly paused when one of the instructors walked by.

Sam held her breath expecting the instructor to say something about the way she was dressed.

When he didn't, she let out the breath she had been holding and pulled her coat closed.

"So can I walk you to class?" said Kirk

Sam smirked

"Jim our class is in the opposite direction" said McCoy

The two men were walking with her anyways despite the fact that their classes were indeed in the opposite direction.

Alex rolled her eyes and huffed at the two men eyeing Sam like dogs would eye bacon.

Some of the other cadets stared at her as she walked by and Sam was starting to regret this decision.

They reached class and Sam made as if to dart inside.

"So I was wondering, this weekend, we could catch a movie or something?" said Kirk

Sam smiled at Kirk.

"Maybe we'll see" said Sam

He smiled back at her and McCoy rolled his eyes grabbed Jim's arm and ushered him away from the classroom door. Alex shook her head.

"Did you have to say yes to him?" said Alex

"Relax Alex it's not like I'm going to hop into bed with the man" said Sam

Alex snorted and walked off towards her classroom. Sam took a seat in the back in the corner and draped her coat across her legs.

She set up her supplies and ignored the few questioning looks turned her way. The class went smoothly and Sam moved on to her next one.

She sat in the back of each of her classes. The bell rang and she followed the group out. Alex was waiting for her, she looked nervous.

Alex kept giving her worried glances as they entered the class. Sam started for their usual seats. She turned to see Alex standing by the back row

"you sure?' said Alex

Sam nodded and Alex sighed, then reluctantly followed Sam to the front of the room. Sam took a seat in the second row and calmly set her things up.

Her stomach was filled with butterflies. Spock wasn't here yet and she was starting to get nervous.

The class was filling up fast and still no instructor. Sam could have sworn she heard Uhura outside the door then Spock walked in.

He adjusted his uniform and walked to the front of the class. He didn't really look at them yet. Sam typed her name into the roster sheet and hit send.

He was busy reading something on the PADD on his desk then he looked up right at Sam and froze.

He tilted his head sideways as if he was studying a new species. He tapped on his Padd and then looked from it to her again.

Sam smirked at him because it was obvious he had not recognized her.

"Cadet Morningstar will you start us off please read the first section for us" said Spock

Sam cleared her throat and picked up the device. She calmly read the passage out loud. Several of the males were staring at Sam in shock.

She crossed her legs at the ankles and set down her Padd. The females in the class were mostly glaring at her.

Spock moved on to another student but she saw his gaze flicker down briefly. The bell finally rang and Sam packed up her things.

"Miss Morningstar, come with me please" said Spock

She looked up at him in shock and finished putting her things in her bag.

He walked ahead of her out of the room and down the hall out of the building and straight towards building 1.

Sam's stomach fell, great he was getting her kicked out. Mr. Spock proceeded her into the office.

"Sit there and cover your lap" said Spock.

He sounded irritated but that was somewhat of his usual tone. He walked past the secretary and into the back room towards a door marked Commandant. Sam swallowed nervously great second day here and already she was in the principal's office.

The door opened and Spock beaconed to her. Sam swallowed again and stood up. She held her head up high and walked into the Commandants office. The door shut behind her.

"Take a seat Cadet" said the commandant.

He was an older grey haired man, if Sam had to guess his age she would say in his fifties. Sam calmly sat down and waited for him to speak. He looked her up and down and Sam restrained the urge to cover her lap with her coat. His eyes lingered on her legs a bit too long.

"Yes I can see what you mean Commander" said the commandant

He cleared his throat and Sam met his eyes.

"Cadet Morningstar, hmm pretty name, May I ask what you were thinking this morning when you chose to wear... that" said the commandant

He waved to her outfit. Sam restrained the urge to smirk. This was not funny the prick had gotten her in trouble on her second day. Sam's fingers nervously played with the hem of her skirt.

"Well... I" said Sam

She didn't get the rest out.

"Cadet let me be frank with you this display, statement you're making, whatever is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it" said the commandant

"the commander talked to you about your attire yesterday did he not?" said the commandant

She nodded yes. Sam bit her bottom lip because her eyes were threatening to fill with tears and she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"Go back to your dorm room and change, into normal foot attire and zip closed your top, you are on probation until I say otherwise" he said

He was dismissing her but Sam just sat there.

"That was a dismissal cadet" said the commandant

"Sir I don't have" said Sam

"Don't have what cadet? A brain in your head, clearly now go get out of my sight" said the commandant Sam narrowed her eyes at the man, her temper flared.

"No sir I don't have anything to change into" said Sam

She crossed her hands in her lap and glared at the man. He snorted and hit a few buttons on his desk.

"Stop at the front desk, Marcy will give you some scrip for the PX, now out" he said

Sam rose quickly and scurried out of the room. She stopped by the older woman with the bun in her hair.

"Here you go dear, try not to get too upset. We all make mistakes on our first week" said Marcy

She took the small chip from the woman's hands and scurried out the door at practically a run.

She debated just saying to hell with it grabbing her stuff and just leaving.

That would make her a quitter though and as much as she hated this place she really had nowhere else to go.

"The Px is in the opposite direction" said Spock

She jumped because she had no idea the Vulcan had followed her.

"What? Oh yeah sorry didn't exactly look at the map, thanks" said Sam

She nervously hurried away from him.

"I could show you if you like?" said Spock

Sam frowned, what gave with this guy first he gets her in trouble then he wants to be nice.

"No thank you, commander" said Sam

She had to bite back the sharp tones to keep from snapping at him.

"Very well you are expected back in class do not be late" said Spock.

She walked away from him and mimicked his words sarcastically. Sam headed for her dorm room closed the door and had a good cry.

She wiped her eyes and looked at the PADD thing.

It showed she was excused from the class that was going on now, probably so she could change clothes.

She pulled up the map of the campus. The PX was right next to the admissions building, it would be so easy just to walk in and dis-enroll.

She could be out of here by the afternoon. She could still head to Vegas and start a new life. It was tempting she had to admit it. She seriously had her doubts that she could ever fit in here. She looked at her bags and then back at the screen. Should she do it just give up?

It felt wrong to her now. Maybe before she was frozen she wouldn't have had any problem with quitting but everything was different now. She was doing well she had actually finished things, did she really want to go back to being a loser? She sighed and unzipped the boots. She slid on her sandals and changed bras so she could zip up the top. She could do this it was only a few years besides she could always resign before they commissioned her. Take the education and do something else with it.

Broadway might even still be an option she grabbed her bag. She could always shove the sandals in bag after she got the boots. The PX turned out to be a small store that sold everything from snacks to clothing. She was staring at the only boots in her size and they were ugly. Her boots may have been impractical but at least they didn't look like rejects from the sixties. Quitting was looking mighty good right now.

"Can I help you miss?" said one of the clerks.

Sam groaned and grabbed the only pair in her size.

"No I'm good" said Sam

She set them on the counter and handed the clerk the scrip. She scanned it and asked if Sam wanted it bagged.

"no thanks I'll just wear them out" said Sam

She slid her sandals off and slid the new boots on. Shoving her sandals into her bag. She left the tape around her ankles hoping it would protect her from new shoe blisters. She walked out and paused her eyes lingering on the admissions building. She wanted so badly to go home but this was home right now. She adjusted her bag and headed for the classrooms. She was quiet again today answering questions she did know with I don't know again. The bell rang and she headed for lunch.

"Well what happened, Sheila said he took you to see the commandant" said Alex

"He did" said Sam

"And?' said Alex

She shrugged and punched in an order for a salad she had no intention of eating.

"He yelled at me, called me stupid" said Sam

She moved towards the drinks and grabbed a soda, screw the calories she could run them off in the morning.

"Oh Sam you're not stupid" said Alex

"Any ways he put me on probation whatever the hell that is and gave me scrip to get shoes" said Sam Alex looked down at her new boots.

"They're hideous" said Sam

Alex snorted.

"they're just like everyone else's" said Alex

Sam looked at everyone's shoes in the room in front of them.

"They're still hideous" said Sam

Alex nodded in agreement and sat down at their usual table.

"Oh just to give you a heads up Uhura's pissed" said Alex

Sam frowned at Alex

"Why?" said Sam

She had picked up an apple and had paused midway between mouth and plate. Alex gave her a shocked look

"What you don't know?" said Alex

Sam shook her head.

"She's dating Spock but you didn't hear it from me" said Alex

Sam lowered the apple in shock.

"No way! Mr. Stickler for the rules is dating someone, isn't that against regulations?" said Sam

She was smirking she wished she knew this an hour ago she could have used it against him. Alex shrugged

"don't know probably if your higher than a student teacher but I think he's just that, I think that's why they have him teaching the lower grades at least until they ship him off" said Alex

"Anyways she thinks you were hitting on him or something that's why she's so bent" said Alex

Sam set her fork down before she dropped it in shock. Sam started laughing, in fact she was still laughing when Uhura approached them.

Alex got this worried look on her face and pointed behind her discreetly. Sam turned, she was still grinning. Uhura was standing behind her and she looked livid.

"what is so funny?" said Uhura

She sounded pleasant and Sam could tell it was deceptive. Uhura narrowed her eyes at sam.

"What happened to your look this morning?" said Uhura

The tone was mocking as well as angry.

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" said Sam

Alex groaned behind her. Uhura glared at her.

"I did and he told me everything" said Uhura

Sam smirked at her.

"Then you know nothing happened unless of course you don't trust him" said Sam

Alex covered her mouth but the gasp escaped before she did. Uhura hesitated and Sam noted it.

So she did feel insecure about dating him, Sam could imagine why.

"just stay away from him and stop dressing like a slut" said Uhura

She stormed away and Alex sighed in relief behind her. Sam spun back around and picked up her fork.

"So where were we?" said Sam

Alex was staring at her in shock.

"Have you seen the schedule changes?" said Trip

He sat down next to Alex and gave Sam a perplexed look.

"Weren't you wearing something else?" said trip

Sam rolled her eyes.

"The lieutenant made her change almost got her kicked out" said Alex

He gave Sam a sympathetic look.

"Yeah I'm on probation until further notice" said Sam

He made a sympathetic sound Alex was already calling up the schedule change on her padd.

"What more testing they have to be kidding" said Alex

"Does it say what kind?" said Sam

She finished her apple and dug into the spaghetti. Alex shook her head no

"No it just gives a time frame for first years and says it's mandatory" said Alex

Sam groaned this day was starting to seriously bite.

"My time frame says after lunch what is yours?" said Trip

"Same time, Sam?" said Alex

She groaned and dug into her bag pulled out the device and turned it on.

"Same time" said Sam

"Great we can go together" said Trip

Sam was staring at her screen because it had a few new things on it. She tapped one and groaned out loud.

"What's wrong?" said Alex

"I can't leave the campus" said Sam

"The probation?" said Trip

Sam nodded and kept reading. She was soon swearing until she saw that on the list too.

"What is it what's wrong?" said Alex

Sam slid her Padd over so her friends could read the entry.

"Oh my that's horrible, I guess you're going to have to tell kirk it's a no go" said Alex

She sounded happy about it so Sam glared at her.

"Oh come on you can't seriously like him" said Alex

"Kirk as in Jim kirk?" said Trip

"Yes" said Sam

"You like him?" said Trip

Sam shrugged.

"She accepted a date with him" said Alex

"Yeah a date I can't go on" said Sam

She had lost her appetite and besides the sausage in this spaghetti tasted like tofu. She snagged her Padd off the table and shoved it back in her bag.

"See you guys later" said Sam

She stood up and walked away from the table. The tests turned out to be a huge series of aptitude tests that were beginning to get annoying by the third one. She stopped really thinking about the questions and just simply marked whatever felt right for her.

The test results would be posted to her Padd so she went to her next class.

When the results finally flashed across her screen at dinner she dissolved into giggles and couldn't finish her curry.

A years ago

They were still trying to push her into taking one more year.

Her tests had slated her for command training and Star fleet didn't seem to understand no very well. The first year had been rough and she had almost quit on at least forty different occasions. Spock got promoted to commander and did get some poor hapless girl kicked out for doing the same thing Sam did of course Sam drew the line at making a pass at him.

She still didn't like the man. Kirk was in his fourth year having willingly signed up for the command classes that Sam was balking at.

She was still making plans to ditch her commission upon graduation. Alex was going into science with a specialization in alien biology. Sam however was still floundering. She did okay in her academics, not top of the food chain mind but she held her own. The only thing she really excelled at was hand to hand and phazer training.

She was a competent pilot in simulation but if you put her in anything that you could see the ground in she froze. Her com buzzed again

"Well you have to choose something" said Alex

Sam sighed not this again.

"There sending most of the third years to the station for zero g training, you're on the list" said Alex

Sam groaned and put her head in her hands. She hated these little trips but they were mandatory.

"Trip's going up for the engineering training" said Alex

Alex had started dating Trip at the end of the first year. Sam never did go on that date with Kirk, instead of socializing she spent the majority of her time studying. When the students went home for the holidays Sam stayed at the academy because she had nowhere else to go. She felt increasingly isolated and lost as the years went by. She still felt like she was living a lie and didn't belong here.

She spent most of her time trying to blend into the background and not be found out for the fake she felt she was. Sam sighed and looked at the Padd screen again. She selected security and weapons systems as a lark and looked at the options. Sniper training caught her eye but it was restricted to command program cadets. Sighing she accepted the transfer to command level classes and selected operations and security as her specialty


	4. Chapter 4

Red 4

Sam was up at the station doing a bit of hands on training when she heard the news from a fellow cadet.

It was about a test they were putting everyone through before they graduated.

From what the fellow students were saying it was bad and all command track students would have to take it. Sam was in no way looking forward to it. She was however looking forward to going home. After two weeks on this damn station she was more than ready to get back to good old Terra firma.

The shuttle was coming in for a landing and Sam was busy gathering up the rest of her things. The group getting off the shuttle would be taking over for the group Sam was in, while Sam's group left in the shuttle. She flung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the shuttle bay.

People were still streaming off of it so Sam waited with her fellow cadets. A group of instructors were walking their way. At their center was a man in a different uniform. The flight deck officer called out admiral on deck and everyone snapped to attention. Sam watched as the admiral walked towards the shuttle they were supposed to take. Their instructor waved them towards the shuttle and Sam almost groaned. Great they were going to be stuck on board with an admiral all the way home. Sam walked up the ramp.

"Cadet Morningstar" said the instructor

"Yes sir?" said Sam

"You've got the helm" said the instructor

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. She looked at the vacant seat and cringed.

"Ah sir?" said Sam

"Is there a problem commander?" said the admiral

The commander gave Sam a level look. She gave a worried look at the admiral.

"Sir permission to speak freely" said Sam

Her voice squeaked at the end.

"Go ahead cadet" said the instructor in a tone that said this better be good.

"Sir I've never flown anything outside of a simulation" said Sam

He nodded in understanding

"There's a first time for everything cadet, now take the helm" said the commander

Sam watched his retreating back with a mixture of terror and resignation. She slowly made her way towards the cockpit. Behind her cadets, the admiral and her instructor were strapping in. Sam was trying her best not to shake as she strapped herself in. Her copilot gave her a worried look.

"You okay?" he asked

"No" she said softly.

She ran through the preflight check list and started firing up the engines. Her copilot was doing his job smoothly.

"We've been cleared ready when you are" said her copilot.

She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. Sam slowly moved the controls forward and the shuttle crept out of the bay. Sam was keeping her eyes on the horizon, if she could keep from seeing anything but sky she should be all right. The tricky part was going to be the landing and getting out of this shuttle bay in one piece. They passed through the atmospheric shield and Sam slowly angled the shuttle so they were at an approach vector for reentry without her having to look at anything but sky.

Behind her all was quiet and at the moment she was glad because the idea that she had passengers with her who could die if she froze up was making her nervous enough to hurl on the flight controls. They reentered the atmosphere and Sam angled the shuttle again to head for the academy. She was trying very hard not to look out the windshield, instead she focused on the upper half of it. It was kind of like driving a car without looking at the road.

"ah cadet?" said her copilot

They had entered some heavy fog and could no longer see more than a few feet in front of them. Sam almost sighed in relief and switched all her sensors to the on position. Now this way she could fly without being too nervous about it. The upper outline of the golden gate bridge was coming into view and she flew the shuttle between its cables, smoothly tilting it to avoid them. The admiral gave her a worried look when he saw the cables outside the window.

Sam was concentrating too hard to even see it. In fact as far as she was concerned it was just her and the craft in her hands. The first building of the academy could be seen in the distance and the fog was starting to lift. Sam quickly averted her gaze and paid attention to the sensors. Another shuttle was coming in their direction and Sam turned slightly to avoid it. Her copilot was holding his breath because he was watching her fly without really looking where she was going.

"We've been granted clearance to land on shuttle pad two" said the copilot.

Sam calmly steered the ship in that direction and very gently set it down on the landing pad. Her copilot sighed and started shutting down the engines. Sam did the same and unlocked the doors. Her hands were shaking and her hair was plastered to her scalp with sweat. Behind her people were releasing their harnesses and exiting the shuttle. Sam leaned back and tried to get her nerves under control. Someone touched her shoulder and she jumped with a yelp.

"Good work cadet" said the admiral

He chuckled and walked off the craft followed by her instructor. She did however hear the man ask how many times she'd flown before, she didn't catch her instructors reply.

"You okay?" said the co pilot

She shook her head no and bolted for the door. She just made it outside the door before she hurled all over the ground. When she was done she looked up to find some of her fellow cadets staring at her in shock. Someone walked down the ramp.

"Cadet Morningstar?" said the co pilot

"Yeah that's me" she said

He was holding her bag and handed it to her.

"Lieutenant Hershey, like the chocolate" he said

Holding out his hand to her. She shook it.

"First time you've ever flown?' he asked

"Yeah, only did it in simulators before this" said Sam

"That explains a lot" said Hershey

"You did great though, should get better the more you do it. Just from now on look out the windshield" said Hershey

He walked away from her and didn't notice the blood leave her face. She slowly made her way towards her dorm room. She needed a shower and more than likely a change of underwear. She climbed the stairs and hit the elevator button and waited. She went upstairs and changed into her uniform. Then headed out to look for Alex. She glanced at her Padd and found it was close to lunch time.

She wasn't scheduled for any classes yet so she headed for the gym. She needed to burn this nervous energy and a few katas would do it. She worked out until the bell rang then rinsed off redressed and headed for the mess hall. She spotted Alex walking next to Trip

"Oh Sam your back" said Alex

"Yeah what did I miss?" said Sam

"Not much, heard you landed the shuttle" said Trip

Sam blushed then blanched.

"Oh please don't remind me of that" said Sam

"You okay you look a bit green" said Alex

"Yeah fine just glad it's over, I was so scared I would freeze up and kill everyone" said Sam

Trip patted her arm

"Don't fret from what I heard you did great in fog no less" said Trip

"Well then perhaps I should have her be my pilot" said a new voice

Alex turned squealed Daddy and launched herself at the newcomer. Sam nodded in his direction. "Captain Pike sir so good to see you" said Trip

"Can it Trip I'm here to visit my baby girl, hello Samantha how are you doing today" said Pike

"Ah just trying to calm my nerves sir" said Sam

Pike moved closer and clasped Sam's shoulder in his hand.

"I heard about this morning masterful job, we'll make a pilot out of you in no time" said Pike

Sam blanched

"Actually I'd rather not if you don't mind" said Sam

"She's still afraid of heights dad" said Alex

Pike raised an eyebrow

"More like the abrupt stop at the bottom" said Sam

"Still freezing up?" said Pike

"Only when I look at the ground sir" said Sam

He looked confused

"Then how I might ask, did you manage to fly a shuttle?" said Pike

"It has a big front windshield sir and sensors, one doesn't necessarily have to use the bottom half" said Sam

Pike's mouth dropped open in shock then he started laughing when he realized just what she was implying

"Oh my I think I'll pass that on to Harry, he'll love it" said Pike

He looped his arm around Alex's shoulders and gave her a little squeeze

"So I figured while I was in town we could catch a movie and grab a bite to eat, would you like to join us Samantha?" said Pike

Sam looked at Alex with her dad's arm around her shoulders and suddenly felt so envious of Alex.

"No thank you sir, you two go ahead" said Sam

She was suddenly feeling an acute sense of loss, which would only get worse if she spent too much time with them. Pike gave her a worried look.

"Samantha, is there something wrong?" said Pike

She shook her head no. She spotted McCoy going into the training simulator room.

"No I just need to de-stress, you guys go have fun" said Sam

She glanced at the building again because her curiosity was through the roof right now.

"Kirk's scheduled for the Kobayashi Maru, he's probably there to support him" said Trip

Sam frowned she had heard the rumors about that test.

"Go I am sure he could use the support" said Pike

Sam smiled ruefully she shared that sentiment after what she had heard of that test kirk would need all the support he could get.

"Yeah I've heard cadets have quit after taking that test" said Alex

She sounded worried.

"I heard someone shot themselves, but I think it was just a rumor" said Trip

"I hope so" said Sam

She started walking towards the building

"Sam" said Pike

She turned

"They won't let other cadets in the observation deck during the test" said Pike

Sam frowned at him.

"Why not?" said Alex

"Secrecy mostly they want the test to be a surprise to those who haven't taken it" said Pike

"Then I guess I'll wait for him then" said Sam

"Suit yourself" said trip

Pike put his arm around Alex's shoulders and guided her away. Sam watched them go with a sad look on her face.

"We're going to have to take that too you know" said Trip

Sam swallowed and looked at the door.

"Yeah I know" said Sam

The door opened and Kirk walked out he looked dazed and sad. He looked like someone just ran over his dog.

"Hey Jim how did it go?" said Trip

Sam gave him a look that plainly said obviously bad dipshit.

"How do you think?" said Kirk

His voice was subdued and scratchy like he was holding back the urge to cry. Scratch that ran over his dog and backed up to hit it again, filmed it, and sent him a copy. He started to walk away and Sam slowly followed him. He stopped midway to his dorm building.

"Why are you following me?" said Jim

An hour ago he would have teased her about waiting for him or flirted shamelessly. Something was definitely wrong. She wasn't sure how to answer that, why was she following him? Sam shrugged.

"Cause you look like you could use a friend" said Sam

He frowned and gave her a wry smile.

"I not in the mood for company" said Kirk

He paused and looked at the admissions building. Sam knew that look because she had worn it on many occasions.

"Jim…" said Sam

"Don't, you don't know me, so just don't" said Jim

He started to walk away and for some reason it made her angry. He was right she didn't know him but he didn't know her either.

"Was it really that bad?" said Sam

She had followed him without realizing. He stopped and swore under his breath.

"Yes damn it! Now just stop, okay. You have no idea what it feels like to fail that way" said Kirk

He clenched his fists and had turned towards her. He turned to walk away again.

"Yes I do" said Sam

He stopped and turned back around, this time he stalked back to her.

"No you don't" he said

Sam opened her mouth to protest.

"I killed them all, everyone died. I didn't save the ship. I couldn't even save my own. It was a complete and utter failure" he ranted

He started to turn away and she grabbed his arm.

"I've failed everything I've ever tried or I've quit it before I did." Sam blurted

He stopped trying to walk away.

"I've wanted to walk away from this place the day I got here" said Sam

"Why haven't you?" said Kirk

Sam paused why didn't she walk away?

"Because it would be admitting that they were right and that I really am a loser" said Sam

"What if they are?" said Kirk

"Then you prove them wrong" said Sam

"What if there is no way to prove them wrong, what if there is no solution. What if it's just designed so you lose" said Kirk

Sam could guess what he was talking about.

"Then you keep getting back up until it gives up trying to knock you down" said Sam

He gave her an appraising look and his face spread into a small half smile.

"Thank you Sam" said Kirk

She smiled at him.

"You know you still owe me a movie" said Sam

He still looked depressed and she wanted to cheer him up. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked disappointed.

"Yes but they won't let me leave since Anderson" said Kirk

Sam knew what he was referring to. Everyone who took the Kobayashi test was under campus lockdown for twenty four hours after taking the test. Counselors were on standby to talk to those cadets that needed their services, but it was mostly for those who tried to quit. She looped her hand through his arm and pulled him towards her dorm building.

"Going to take me up to your room?' he said

He was teasing which was a welcome relief from the morose Jim that he had been earlier. She pulled him into the common room of her dorm. Guys could be on this floor without getting in trouble, just not on the upper floors.

"Stay here I'll be right back" said Sam

He gave her a strange look as she ran out the door hit the elevator button. Climbed inside when it stopped, rode it up to her floor. She walked into her room and dug through her stuff. Pulled a portable DVD player from her bag and her DVD folder. She locked up her things and carried the two items downstairs. Kirk gave her a strange look when she set the player on the table.

"What is it?" said kirk

He picked it up and tilted it in his hand.

"It's a DVD player, now what would you like to watch?" said Sam

She opened the folder and he flipped the page to look at the titles on the next page.

"What are these?' he said

She chuckled. "They're DVDs silly, they're twenty first century versions of chips" said Sam

He looked skeptical.

"Where did you get them they can't still make them and does the player still even work?" said Kirk

"Yep used it a few days ago and I brought them with me" said Sam

"Brought them with you?" said Kirk

"I was born in 1997, they were in my Volkswagen when we got frozen" said Sam

His mouth dropped open in shock

"Volkswagen?" said kirk

"Yep 69 VW bug, had everything I own inside including my cat, Watson" said Sam

"Cat?" said Kirk

"He didn't make it" said Sam

"Wait so what you're telling me is that you're from two hundred years in the past?" said Kirk

"Yep you can look at my records if you don't believe me, my rescue made the local news" said Sam "where?" said kirk

"Near Albuquerque it's where I fell into a sink hole, I hit a glacial river and it froze me" said Sam

His mouth dropped open in shock.

"No way are you kidding me, seriously your messing with me" said Kirk

Sam smirked at him

"You've got a PADD look it up, it was 6 years ago" said Sam

He gave her a look and did just that because he obviously doubted her. He was frowning at the screen so Sam glanced over his shoulder. It was a print of her Volkswagen encrusted with ice being lifted out of the hole by what looked like a crane. He lowered the Padd with a complete look of shock on his face.

"Holy shit you weren't kidding" he said

She shook her head no. he got this little wicked smirk on his face.

"So you're like a really old lady" said Kirk

The tone was teasing and she groaned. Great just what the man needed something else to tease her about. He chuckled at her when she rolled her eyes.

"So all these movies are classics, just like you" said Kirk

She flipped him off and he chuckled. He slid one of the disks out of the sleeve.

"So what is this one about?" said kirk

Sam looked at what he was holding

"The breakfast club? It's about redefining the social rules I guess. Why? Haven't you seen it?" said Sam

He gave her a level look

"I take it that's a no?" said Sam

She snagged it out of his hand and opened the player. She set the disk inside and motioned for him to move towards the couch. She dimmed the light while he took a seat on the couch. He scooted into the corner. She sat down between his legs and leaned back into him, balancing the player on her knees so they both could see it. She hit play and he curled his arm around her waist.

Halfway through the movie he buried his face in her hair then rested his chin on her shoulder. When he inhaled a second time very noticeably her stomach did a little flip flop, was she still wearing the cologne. She silently cursed when she remembered she had mixed some of that dreamer's tears stuff with her perfume oils because the campus had banned it at the end of last year.

Her roommate had found a way around that and Sam liked the effect the stuff had on the male population so much that she helped her cover it up. Unfortunately some of the girls got wind of it and now Lela was supplying most of the ladies on campus with a little extra additive in their perfume bottles. Sam drew the line at helping with that and turned a deliberate blind eye to Lela's activities.

The female population on campus was a lot happier lately which was a good thing as far as she was concerned. That much sexual repression was downright Victorian the only thing marring it was the effect the stuff had on the more aggressive males and certain species. For example long term exposure could drive a Vulcan into early pon far. So Lela was a bit exclusive on who she sold to, especially if they were engaged in interspecies dating. He tightened his grip and nuzzled her hair. He sighed then gently kissed her neck. She jumped in shock.

"Jim?" said Sam

She started to scoot away. He tighten his grip and pulled her closer.

"Relax, I just want to hold you" he said

She sunk back into his arms and he seemed to immerse himself in the film. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"I don't get it, why would Brian write that?" said Kirk

"Easy silly he was trying to make a statement about how they are individuals and therefore not defined by stereotypes" said Sam

"Oh okay so essentially he's bucking the status quo…" said Kirk

"Exactly he's refusing to be defined by the established rules" said Sam

His face suddenly lit up. He shifted pulling Sam to her feet as he did so. Then he spun her and kissed her square on the mouth

"Sam you're a genius, thanks babe" said kirk

Then he left the room leaving a stunned Sam in his wake


	5. Chapter 5

Red5

Sam stared at the empty spot kirk had just occupied and blinked in shock. He had just kissed her. Jim Kirk had called her a genius and kissed her.

Her mind refused to function for a few seconds. She blinked and someone opened the door.

They gave Sam a perplexed look and she finally snapped out of it.

She gathered her things and retired to her room. She stowed the player and DVD case and retrieved her violin.

She rosined up the bow and set it to string. Soon she was coaxing a haunting melody out of the strings.

Her thoughts were still firmly on her past but some uplifting notes crept into the session.

The notes finally died and someone clapped. She turned to find Lela and another girl in the room.

"Wow that was beautiful and sad. How do you dance and play at the same time?" said the newcomer

Sam just shrugged

"It was how I learned" said Sam

She stowed the violin and walked into the bathroom. It was obvious why the other girl was here and Sam didn't want to see it.

She heard the outer door swish open and then shut again.

"you can come out now she's gone" said Lela

She appeared in the bathroom.

"So what was with the sonata?" said Lela

"He kissed me" said Sam

It was more like blurted actually Lela froze

"Who?" said Lela

"Kirk, he called me a genius and kissed me" said Sam

"Whoa wait, the Jim kirk kissed you?' said Lela

Sam nodded yes

"So are you two like dating now, cause I thought you two were just friends?" said Lela

Sam frowned

"So did I but I'm not so sure anymore" said Sam

"Just make him work for it if you decide to go for it" said Lela

She grabbed one of her small purses and walked out. Lela paused at the door.

"Hey some of us are going off campus, we found this nightclub, do you want to come with us?" said Lela

Sam shook her head no.

"Naw I'm gonna take a shower, read something fun for once and catch a cat snooze have fun" said Sam Lela shook her head

"Suit yourself" said Lela

She ducked out the door and Sam padded towards the bathroom. She stripped and took a shower.

After she was done she put on some sleep shorts and a tank top.

Grabbed one of her books and curled up on her bed to reread one of her favorite books.

She fell asleep midway through.

She found herself in a hallway she didn't recognize but it looked like this time period.

It had the feeling of all the others she could even feel the cold of the floor on her bare feet.

She warily approached a door at the end of the hall. It slid open into what looked suspiciously like a brig.

It had one occupant and his back was turned to her. He swore and flung what he was working on to the floor.

She would recognize that familiar shock of black hair anywhere. She gasped and he turned.

He spotted her standing there and stared in shock. She leaned down and picked up the paper he had so violently shoved away

"Samantha?" he said

Her name rolling off his tongue in a smooth baritone that made her knees weak. Oh how she missed his voice.

Tears welled in her eyes. She nodded yes and moved forward.

"But how?" he said softly.

She wrapped her arms around him and he hesitated at first before responding.

"Does it matter?" said Sam

He buried his face in her hair and inhaled sharply.

She had a sudden absurd worry about the perfume before she shrugged it off, this was a dream.

He kissed the side of her neck pulling her closer and into a grip that was so strong it hurt.

"Easy love I'm not going anywhere, now what's got you so upset?" said Sam

He loosened his grip but still maintained the contact on her arm. He swore again and said a name under his breath.

"Nothing you can help with sweetheart" he said

She lifted the drawing and looked at it closely. It looked like half a ship but the lines were all wrong. It looked like he was trying to design one.

"See what I mean?' he said

She set it down on the table.

"May I?" said Sam

He snorted

"Go ahead I was about to throw that copy out anyway" he said

She chuckled and picked up the pencil he had been using.

She calmly erased a few lines and rounded the design to give it a more organic look that flowed.

Drawing on stuff she learned in her mechanical drawing class, she filled in sections and gave him something to build on, that was better than the original look. He closed his hand over hers.

"Where did you learn this?' he said

Sam shrugged and answered him.

"the academy why?" said Sam

He looked up from the page with a worried look that was almost horrified.

"What academy?" he asked

She started to answer him then that familiar tugging sensation pulled her from the dream.

She blinked her eyes open with a groan. That had felt so real her arms were sore. She rubbed them and looked around where was her roommate.

She must have found a guy or girl to spend the night with. Her alarm went off and she turned it off and rolled out of bed.

She was just about to head for the shower when someone banged on her door rather hard. Frowning she crossed the room to answer it.

"What?'" said Sam after she flung open the door

Standing outside her door was three security guards and her residential adviser.

"Cadet please step into the hall" said her R A

"Huh, yeah sure, just give me a second to get dressed" said Sam

"No cadet right now that was an order not a request" said one of the guards.

He sounded angry so Sam stepped into the hall.

She gave her R.A a puzzled look as the guards entered her dorm room and started searching it. Sam turned to her adviser.

"Ma'am what is going on?" said Sam

The guards were tossing the room pretty thoroughly and were not sticking to only Lela's side.

"Cadet Morningstar, where were you at 2100 hours last night?" said the head security guard

Sam mentally did the math to figure out military time.

"Ah let's see I was just finishing our movie by then, I came up here to take a shower and lay down, why?' said Sam

The R. A. nodded in understanding.

"So you did not go into town with your roommate at all?" said the R.A

"No ma'am, I usually do not, you know this" said Sam

The woman gave Sam a look that was pure irritation. Sam had an inkling about what this was about.

It had to be the damn perfume she must have gotten busted.

Sam mentally went through her room and tried to recall where she kept her bottle of the stuff.

A few minutes later the guards came out carrying two large bags of vials, and both Lela's and Sam's bottles of cologne.

"Cadet come with us please" said the lead guard

"But" said Sam

She protested because she was still in her pajamas and it was early morning. Which were quite chilly this close to the ocean.

They ignored her protest and guided her out of the door.

One of them grabbed her arm and she bit back the cry that rose to her lips because it was really sore.

They guided her down to the first level and across the quad. Several cadets stopped to watch.

They took her straight to the commandant's office. Her stomach sank she had been to this man's office more times than she cared to admit.

Her teeth chattered and it wasn't all from the cold. Each and every time he hadn't listened to her not once, so she doubted he would this time.

They ushered her into the office. Someone from medical was there and he ran a tricorder over her. The doc frowned when he reached her arms.

"Well?' said the commandant

"Only trace amounts sir that she could have gotten in transfer" said the doctor.

She was grateful it wasn't McCoy. The commandant frowned and moved into his office.

"Sit cadet Morningstar" said the commandant

She reluctantly did so. He tapped some keys on his Padd and frowned at the screen.

He nodded towards campus security and the officer set the pile of contraband on his desk.

The man stepped back and eyed Sam like he wanted to arrest her. The commandant glared at her

"Do you know what that is cadet?" said the commandant

Sam debated if she should play it safe and protect her own skin or just own up to knowing. She shook her head no.

He narrowed his eyes at her

"Really? You would have me believe that you don't know what the substance is, hazard a guess then" said the commandant

Sam swallowed nervously and looked at the bottles. The liquid inside looked like crack or cocaine.

"crack?' said Sam

The commandant's eyebrow twitched. A clear sign he was seriously irritated.

"Close cadet it is more dangerous, that is why it is contraband and I think you do know exactly what it is" said the commandant

He was staring her down as if he could break her with one look. She bit her bottom lip nervously.

"What remains to be seen is how much of it is yours" said the commandant

Sam sighed she had no control over what Lela chose to do, but there was no way they were pinning that on her.

"Just the blue bottle is mine sir, it was a gift" said Sam

That much was true Lela had given it to her on her last birthday right in front of most of the dorm. He frowned and picked up the blue bottle.

He shook it in his hand and she could guess he was gauging just how much of it she had used.

She was lucky she wore it so rarely that the bottle was almost full.

He set it down in front of him. He crossed his fingers and rested his hands on the desk.

"Cadet Morningstar what am I going to do with you?" said the commandant

She gave him a confused look but was secretly hoping it would be just to let her go.

"You knew of this didn't you?" said the commandant

Sam sighed and nodded yes. She took a deep breath, oddly she felt relieved that this was all over. She could back up her stuff and head to Vegas, maybe even convince Lela to come with her. She had the body to be a dancer. Sam was certain she could teach her.

He was staring at her and she was waiting. Why wasn't he yelling, like he always did?

"Cadet you know for a violation this severe I have to convene a judiciary committee and they will decide what is to be done with you" said the commandant

"Until then you are suspended from classes and confined to your room" said the commandant

Sam was curious. She could already guess what Lela's fate would be, but she had to ask.

"What of my roommate sir?" said Sam

He gave her a glare

"Cadet Robere has been remanded to the stockade following an altercation last night at a drinking establishment that left three of your fellow cadets severely injured" said the commandant

Sam opened her mouth to ask if Lela was harmed but he cut her off.

"Cadet Robere is bruised but otherwise unharmed, you are dismissed cadet" said the commandant

Sam was escorted back across campus by two guards and one remained at her door. Sam got dressed and picked up the room.

Packing her things as she went. She was almost in tears by the time she was done. Everything she had worked for was going down the tubes.

The guard knocked and she called out it was unlocked. He looked inside

"Cadet I am to escort you to the hall they have convened an emergency session" said the guard.

He glanced at her packed stuff and her civilian clothes.

"I'll give you a few minutes to change into your uniform" he said and stepped back outside.

Sam closed her eyes and reluctantly changed back into the cadet uniform for one last time. She keyed her code into the lock and turned towards her escort.

He was staring at her sadly but she really didn't care. She was finally getting out of here. They had finally seen her for what she was and were kicking her to the curb. It was almost a relief.

The guard escorted her into the hall and pointed to a spot for her to sit. She could hear her fellow cadets whispering behind her.

She looked up into the grim faces of four admirals. She noticed ironically one was the guy who had ridden in her shuttle.

The door to the side opened and Lela was led in by security. The guards stepped back and left her standing there all alone.

She didn't turn around and search for allies with her eyes because she knew she had none.

"Cadet Robere under section 15 of Starfleet regulations you are hereby charged with thirty seven counts of possession of a controlled substance, distribution and the intent to distribute said substance, known as lover's tears. It has come to my attention that you admitted freely to these charges and have plead no contest, is this correct?" said the admiral acting as lead judge.

"Yes sir" said Lela

Her voice sounded broken and like she wanted to cry. The judge sighed and looked at the Padd in front of him.

"I also have here a request to be dismissed and a resignation of your commission" said the judge.

Lela was looking at the floor but she nodded yes. The man sighed again and looked to his fellow judges. There were nods and grudging acceptance of that solution.

"Very well Miss Robere we grudgingly accept your resignation and we remand you to the local authorities for prosecution" said the judge

Lela looked up and Sam got a good look at her face. She was sporting multiple bruises and looked like she had gotten into a fight and lost badly. Sam briefly met her eyes and Lela mouthed she was sorry.

"Your dismissed cadet" said the judge

The guards moved forward to escort her out of the hall.

"Cadet Morningstar" said the judge

Sam swallowed and stood on shaky legs she was praying they wouldn't arrest her too.

One of her friends back home had been busted with barely an ounce of bud and did two years in county because of it. She slowly made her way down the stairs and stood in front of the judges. Her stomach was doing flip flops so bad she was worried she would blow chunks on the judges.

The judges were silent for a few minutes and Sam guessed her less than stellar record was being reviewed. She took a deep breath and waited for the harsh words.

"Cadet Morningstar you are being charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance and ethical misconduct how do you plead?" said the judge

There was no use denying it, they had her dead to rights.

"Guilty sir" said Samantha

The man steepled his fingers and regarded Sam intently.

"Guilty, so you do not deny the charges" said the judge

Sam shook her head no.

"No sir" said Sam

The ethical part did stump her but she reasoned it had to do with knowing about it and not coming forward. He looked down at the device in his hands and flipped the page. He frowned at the device and looked up at her.

"Cadet you seemed to have quite a bit of difficulty here the first year or so, is there any particular reason you have been sent to the commandants with at least twenty dress code and curfew violations?" said the judge next to the main one

Sam shrugged

"I guess some people conform easier than others?" said Sam

The main judge gave her a level look and she realized that could be taken as an insult.

"Sorry that sounded better in my head" said Sam

She heard a couple of quickly stifled giggles. The four men glaring at her were plainly unamused by her comment. She was so screwed. The main admiral set the Padd in front of him down crossed his arms and leaned forward.

"Cadet, I am going to make myself very plain. What you did is a violation of everything Starfleet stands for and I do hope you learn a lesson from these proceedings today" said the admiral

"Ordinarily we would strip you of any ranks or commissions you have achieved but you have not achieved any as of yet. Even though you show the aptitude to do so" said the admiral

He ended the statement with another glare. She ignored the glare and stared at their name plates. She was tired of hearing how she could do better, she had worked her ass off and was still barely floating.

"I hate to do this to you but you leave me no other options. Cadet Morningstar as of today any grades you have earned this year any work that you have done and any rank that you would have earned as a result are hereby stripped. In short you are starting over from scratch this year as if it were your second year" said the Admiral

That got her attention and Sam was shocked. What did you have to do to get thrown out of this place? Blow up a building? She firmly resisted the urge to cry. Everything she had done, seriously. That was just cruel, why couldn't they just kick her out? They had no idea how much work she had to put into just getting those passing grades

"furthermore you will remain on academic probation while you make up those assignments, which means anything less than a B will not credited for the class and you will redo it, on top of that you will join at least two extracurricular activities. You are on campus lockdown until the terms of your probation are fulfilled, you may however leave campus with approved activities with whatever extracurricular clubs you choose to join and for training exercises, nothing else" said the admiral

Sam rocked back on her heels he wanted a serious introvert to join clubs and still get a B average. Was he serious? She took a deep breath.

"sir may I speak?" said Sam

Four glares almost made her voice squeak

"Go ahead cadet" said the admiral

The audience behind her was making her very nervous so she tuned them out.

"I don't believe it is possible for me to meet those expectations so I respectively tender my resignation" said Sam

The admiral leaned back and looked at the other admirals for just a second, then turned to regard Sam again.

"Request denied, you are dismissed cadet return to you quarters you will receive your updated schedule shortly, I suggest you use the interim for a bit of introspection into your self-esteem issues" said the admiral

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock and she barely restrained the urge to flip him off.

The noises behind her of her fellow cadets getting up to leave shook her out of her daze.

She fled out the side door and all but ran back to her dorm room. Seething and swearing the whole way.

She took the stairs instead of the turbo lift because it gave her more time to stomp and vent.

About halfway up she gave into the nerves and hurled on the stairs, somewhere between the second and third floors.

She opened the door to her floor and retreated to her room.

She ignored the Padd sitting on her desk, when it chimed. She could do without a reminder of just how screwed she was.

She shoved her bags to the floor and flopped down on the bed. The tears came a few minutes later as she closed her eyes and tried to doze.

She was just starting to drift off with her tears drying on her face her door chime sounded. She ignored it and rolled over.

She was facing Lela's now empty side and it made her sad.

She may have had issues with aliens when she first got here but Lela had been her friend in the end.

At least as close to her as Alex was, so it hurt that she would most likely never see her again. The door chimed again. Sam growled in irritation

"Go away!" said Sam

"Sam?" said Alex

Sam groaned she should have known her friends wouldn't let her hide. She sighed, this was perfect just perfect.

"It's unlocked" Sam called out


	6. Chapter 6

Red6

She made her way slowly to the door and flung it open. Alex rushed in before she could say anything and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't you worry, I'll let you borrow all my notes and so will Kirk" said Alex

Sam closed her eyes and just let her friend hug her. Before she knew it she was crying.

"The others are downstairs, they want to see you" said Alex

Sam pulled back.

"no I can't" said Sam

Alex snorted

"We are all here for you and we understand why you didn't turn her in. It's okay, you have no reason to be upset" said Alex

"No reason to be upset! Alex I am back to square one damn near, do you have any idea how hard I worked to even get this far?" said Sam

Alex gave her a sad look.

"No not really, but maybe he's right. You do push yourself quite hard" said Alex

Sam sighed and slid on her shoes. She headed for the door with Alex right behind her. Maybe Alex was right just a little bit she did need something besides schoolwork. She pushed the button for the lift and waited. When she exited it on the ground floor she found a small gathering of her friends in the lobby. Jim came forward and enfolded her in a hug too.

Hands reached out to her and clasped her shoulder and someone mentioned that the decision was totally unfair. She started to feel better surrounded by friends and sympathetic acquaintances. Jim was being friendly but that didn't stop him from flirting with everything female in sight. She decided maybe being just friends with him was enough for now. It was just the fact that she had so many supportive friends that helped her not fall into a deep depression in the coming weeks.

6 months ago

People she didn't even know gave her their notes for classes they had already taken or were even still taking. During that time she pulled out discarded copies of assignments she had already turned in and rewrote them. They made her retake the majority of her classes but this time it was like a fog had lifted. Ever since that dream she felt like she wasn't alone anymore.

Yeah he wasn't real and god help her if she ever mentioned him to anyone, she would probably end up in psyche but the way he made her feel was very real. It was like the universe had been waiting for just the right moment and he was the missing piece that made it complete.

She joined the two clubs or rather they asked her to join. One was a cross between competitive shooting and extreme sports. Basically it was a lot of hitting moving targets from the back of moving objects. One of the guys in the club came up to her after she had passed a test to get her phaser certification. She decided to check it out after he invited her to do so. She liked what she saw and signed up. The second club was ironically a flying stunt group. One of the leaders had seen her marks in the simulator and asked her to check it out. She tried to bow out of it of course. Citing both her fear of heights and the freezing episodes did her no good. The guy, Cade was his name, got her into a fighter somehow. He went up with her of course because he was not entirely sure about the freezing up part. He did look somewhat greener when they landed.

Sam was certain it was because she didn't really look where she was flying. He still called her back so she figured she would give his club a chance if he was going to be that persistent about it. Kirk remained just her friend for now. He tried again on the kobayashi maru and failed again .this time he locked himself away in his dorm room and ignored all efforts to get him to come out.

The only reply Sam got when she asked him if he was okay was a short note that said" I am re-writing the rules"

She had no idea what he meant. He started hanging out with Gaila one of the Orion girls that helped operate the test. He was up to something she knew he was.

She was scheduled for her first time taking the test the next day and she was very nervous. She was certain she would freeze up or throw up in the middle of the simulation. She waited in the ready room for the instructor to call her name. She tried to ignore Commander Spock as he stared at her. She wasn't sure why he kept doing that. The door buzzed and the group before her stumbled out of the simulator. They looked like they had just been in an off road race and had wrecked at least twice. Possibly even got ran over by the other vehicles.

She eyed them as they passed and became even more nervous by the minute. She waited for the signal from the instructor. She kept a running mantra in her mind of it's only a simulation it's not real.

"Royce communications, Nguyen helm, Sabatori operations, MacGregor first officer, Morningstar Captain" said the instructor

Her mouth dropped open in shock. She was playing the captain?

"Whenever your ready crew take your positions" said the instructor.

Sam nervously walked on to the simulated bridge and took the captains seat. The rest of her assigned crew took their places and the doors slid shut. The boards lit up just like on a real starship and the front display showed a field of stars. It was smooth running for a few seconds.

"Captain I am receiving a distress call from about twenty clicks into the neutral zone" said Royce.

She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say but she was certain they weren't supposed to cross into the neutral zone.

"Let's go check it out" said Sam

Nguyen moved his hands on the controls like he was really steering the ship. The ship slowly appeared on the view screen as if they had really moved towards it. It was very realistic and a small part of her couldn't help but admire the artwork on the damaged ship.

"Captain the ship is reporting that they struck a mine and have taken heavy causalities" said Royce

"There engines are damaged captain" said MacGregor

She wasn't surprised by that for some reason, why make it that easy.

"Are they within transporter range?" said Sam

"No captain we would have to cross into the neutral zone to be in range" said Sabatori

Sam considered doing just that until Kirk's words came back to her.

"I couldn't save the ship I couldn't even save my own" he had said

So it was a trap then, very clever.

"Captain may I remind you that crossing into the neutral zone is a direct violation of the treaty" said MacGregor

She knew that already but assumed that he was simply getting into the part.

"how long do they have?" said Sam

Sabatori looked at his console

"About three to four hours at the most, their life support has been damaged and their leaking atmosphere out that hole in their side" said Sabatori

Sam pursed her lips. So they were dying which adds a sense of urgency to the decision.

"How many life signs?" said Sam

Sabatori looked back at his console but he was wearing a frown now.

"Forty two captain err forty one I think we just lost one" said Sabatori

Sam was mentally doing the math in her head.

"Our ship has a crew of how many?" said Sam

Sabatori hesitated and she could see him looking up the information

"Ah two hundred captain" said Sabatori

"Ah sir the captain of the Kobayashi is hailing us he is requesting our assistance" said Royce

All eyes turned to her and she could guess what they expected her to do. Race to the aid of the other ship and die just like everyone else did. The only problem with that scenario was that if she did race to the aid of the other ship she placed her own crew in danger just by crossing into the neutral zone. She wasn't sure if she was willing to risk her crew, fictional as it was it was still lives in her care, on what looked like a trap.

"Sabatori scan for more mines" said Sam

"On it captain" said Sabatori

"We have four more directly off their port side and a cluster on their leeward side, all active and magnetic sir" said Sabatori

Sam gave him a strange look when he called her sir again.

"Can we use a tractor beam to pull them out?" said Sam

"Not without hitting the mines ma'am, but we could steer through them" said Nguyen

"But there is a chance that the mines could hit us" said MacGregor

"Plus we would still have to cross into the neutral zone just to be in range of them" said Sabatori

He left it unsaid that it would also place them within range of any mines that exploded while they pulled the other ship out. Sam was running every plan she could think of and coming up with nil. Her only available options were to go in there and try to retrieve the crew of the other ship, hoping that the Klingons wouldn't show up while they did. She was willing to bet they were already waiting out there she wouldn't put it past them to set up this trap in the first place.

"Captain the other captain is still waiting for an answer" said Royce

"He will get it in just a second, Sabatori raise our shields and take us to yellow alert" said Sam

Her bridge crew gave her strange looks but complied.

"Kill the klaxon and arm torpedoes" said Sam

Her crew was stunned speechless for a second.

"Ma'am?" said Sabatori

"Captain there are no enemies out there, just a crippled ship" said MacGregor

"Are you willing to bet your life on that, because I'm not. Sabatori target the Kobayashi, Royce go ahead and patch me through to the other captain" said Sam

He calmly obeyed but he was giving her a confused look the whole time. The sound cut out a few times but she could partially understand the other captain

"This is Captain Thompson of the USS Kobayashi Maru requesting immediate aid, we have struck a mine and require immediate evacuation, please respond" said Captain Thompson

"This is Captain Morningstar of the USS Cadet we have received your message captain and assessed your situation, it is with greatest regret I have to inform you that we cannot help you at this time. I wish to apologize on behalf of my crew and Starfleet for what I am about to do. Your families will be informed of your fate, god speed captain. Mr. Sabatori fire, fan dispersal" said Sam

Sabatori's fingers moved across the console and three streaks of light flew across the screen striking the kobayashi maru in three locations. The ship exploded then broke apart piece by piece. Two Klingon ships materialized just out of range of the mines and the exploding ship.

"Captain should I hail them?" said Royce

He sounded slightly upset by what she had just done. She guessed he would have been the type to just fly in there and try to rescue the ship regardless of the danger such actions posed to his crew.

"Do you speak Klingon Mr. Royce?" said Sam

"Well sort of, I'm not really good at it" said Royce

The others gave him incredulous looks. Sam sighed

"Do you know enough not to insult them, invite them home or ask them on a date?" said Sam

A couple of the crew giggled then quickly stifled it. Royce hesitated. The light on his board pinged.

"They are hailing us captain" said Royce

"So answer them" said Sam

"Sabatori keep an eye on their weapons systems" said Sam

A bunch of guttural nonsensical sounds came over the loud speaker. Sam looked at Royce.

"They either want to know what we are doing here or just invited us to a wedding" said Royce

Sam gave him a level look and he shrugged.

"Inform him what happened" said Sam

"Do you want me to apologize for alarming them?" said Royce

"No something tells me they might find that insulting" said Sam

Royce attempted to respond in the same language and it sounded like he was trying to imitate a chiauha with a head cold. She had no idea what he was trying to say but he sounded awful saying it. There was stunned silence on the other end then more angry guttural words which Royce responded to then silence.

"They've stopped transmission" said Royce

"They are powering up their weapons captain" said Sabatori

"Evasive maneuvers Mr. Nguyen" said Sam

The deck tilted under her feet, she quickly sat down in her chair and strapped in. The deck tilted crazily beneath them. What the heck maneuver was he trying to do? This was supposed to be a galaxy class not a star fighter.

"They've fired captain" said MacGregor

"No kidding really? Just what did you say to them Royce?" said Sam

The whole simulation chamber rocked just like a ship under fire panels blew out and the lights flickered.

"Ah I'm not sure, I could have sworn it was that we were just leaving captain" said Royce

Smoke and alarms filled the room.

"Shield strength?" said Sam

"Down 20% a few more shots like that and we are toast captain" said Sabatori

"All right Mr. Nguyen get us out of here" said Sam

She could feel the ship turning then suddenly more stuff blew out. The lights went down. Then came back up the buzzer sounded saying the simulation was over.

"What happened?" said Sam

"They took out our shields and hit us with a torpedo, the ship blew up underneath us" said Macgregor.

The door to the outer room slid open and the instructor was standing there. Sam numbly unstrapped. She should have won. They were on their side of the neutral zone the Klingons shouldn't have fired at all. The simulation was a cheat. No wonder Kirk was so bent about it. There was literally no solution that didn't lead to death. That dirty rotten, ooh that was so unfair. Her crew filed out looking defeated and upset but at least they didn't look like they needed to go to medical. Still there was med students scanning them as they walked out. A couple of her crew were treated for slight burns that must have happened when the panels shorted out.

"A most unorthodox albeit logical solution, cadet Morningstar" said Spock

"Err thanks I think" said Sam

She never knew if the man was insulting her or not.

"I just have one question if I may, you raised shields prior to destroying the ship might I ask why?" said Spock

Sam shrugged not that it mattered now.

"It felt like a trap, you know something the Klingons might try just so they could say we broke the treaty first" said Sam

Spock nodded in understanding.

"What exactly felt like a trap to you?" said Spock

He was tapping something into his PADD and Sam hoped she didn't just make the test harder for the next group.

"Honestly everything except the name of the ship, it couldn't have been a more obvious trap if you had named the ship cheese" said Sam

Spock paused in his typing and looked up at her.

"Cheese?" he questioned.

Someone was laughing behind him and he came forward to clasp Spock on the shoulder.

"Cheese, very funny as in build a better mouse trap am I correct?" said the man

He was dressed like an admiral and looked vaguely familiar.

"Yes sir, you are correct sir" said Sam

He moved forward and held out his shook it.

"Not a popular solution mind you but one that would have seen your crew live to see another day" said the admiral

"Ordinarily yes" said Sam

The admiral smiled and she knew he got her meaning.

"Too true it is not a very fair test is it?" said the admiral

"There is no such thing as fair sir and I doubt any of us would truly want a world where everything was fair" said Sam

He grinned.

"How very right you are, so very true." said the admiral

"One last question if I may admiral" said Spock

The admiral nodded in her direction

"By all means I must admit a certain level of curiosity regarding her solution" said the admiral

"I understand your reasoning behind destroying the other ship but why did you apologize?" said Spock

Sam shrugged

"It seemed rude not to, I mean just because you have to kill someone doesn't mean your manners have to lapse" said Sam

Spock and the admiral stood there with almost identical looks of shock on their faces.

"Amazing, simply amazing. It seems this mouse was too clever for your mousetrap commander" said the admiral

Her instructor was waiting for her, the admiral nodded in the instructor's direction. He smiled at Sam and she had this weird feeling that the man was sizing her up for some reason.

"You may go cadet" said the admiral

Sam nodded at the admiral and then Mr. Spock

"Thank you admiral?" said Sam

"Marcus, admiral Marcus and the pleasure is mine cadet Morningstar" said the admiral

Sam smiled at him and started to walk away, then she turned back to him.

"The mousetrap didn't work sir because I'm not a mouse sir, I'm a raptor" said Sam

She gave him her squadron name with a smirk. She caught his chuckle as she walked away from them.


	7. Chapter 7

Red 7

She was in a great mood despite having essentially died in the simulation. Her fictional crew weren't so happy with her decision however and she could already tell she was going to end up with a nasty reputation because of her solution. The commander had been impressed or at least she thought he was. You never could really tell with a Vulcan. She wasn't sure what to make of the admiral she didn't really know anything about the man. She passed a girl she knew was one of Lela's former customers. She looked upset.

"What's wrong?" said Sam

The girl glanced at her then nervously rang her hands.

"Nothing" she said quickly

Then hurried away before Sam could ask any more questions. Frowning Sam watched her hurry away. Something was up and for some reason she had a bad feeling Kirk was somehow involved. Speaking of which where was he? He had promised to be there for her test why wasn't he? Sam spotted one of the engineering students that was Kirk's roommate. She walked towards him.

The man watched her approach with widening eyes. When she got close enough to talk he fumbled the Padd in his hands and it hit the ground. She sighed the man had always been a complete nervous wreck, you think after hanging out with James he would pick up something useful. Like some confidence.

"Have you seen Kirk?" said Sam

The man retrieved his Padd and was looking it over to make sure it was not damaged. He sighed with relief then nearly dropped it again when she spoke. He quickly wrapped both arms around the device and hugged it to his chest. His eyes widened and he licked his lips. Sam tapped a foot impatiently.

"He... ah... he's...um" stammered the man

Sam waved her hand in clear prompting for the rest of the sentence

"Yes he what spit it out man" said Sam

He shoved his glasses back up his nose.

"He's scheduled for the Kobayashi Maru" said the man

Sam nodded and turned back towards the building she had just left. Kirk, McCoy and Sulu walked out as she approached, Kirk was grinning ear to ear. Sam frowned something was seriously wrong someone doesn't walk out of a test like that with a grin on their face. McCoy looked worried and Sulu looked shocked. Just what was going on here?

"Kirk?" said Sam

He spotted her standing there and smiled in her direction

"Sam!" he said

He put his arm over her shoulders. She gave him a strange look because she was certain he was dating Gailia. He hugged her close he was laughing.

"Come on join us we're celebrating" said Kirk

His good mood was infectious but some part of her still nagged that something was wrong. He walked towards one of the shuttles that went back and forth into the city. A few weeks ago they had lifted the ban keeping her on Starfleet property, so Sam was more than happy to leave for a while. Her classes were done for the day and she could use a bit of relaxation.

"Sure what are we celebrating?" said Sam

Kirk smiled at her and led her onto the shuttle.

"He beat the test" said McCoy

He nervously sat down next to her and strapped in. she could tell he detested flying almost as bad as she did.

"Beat the test?" said Sam

Sulu sat down opposite them. He leaned back with a sigh.

"The Kobayashi he beat it, somehow" said Sulu

He sounded shocked still or at the least disbelieving. She turned back towards kirk. He was staring at her for some reason. She opened her mouth to ask how and kirk suddenly leaned forward and touched his lips to hers.

"I never noticed before how beautiful you were" said kirk when he withdrew.

She opened her mouth to protest because she felt he was only trying to redirect her.

"I thought you were dating Galia?" said Sam

McCoy chuckled beside her. Jim drew back, his eyes were practically glowing with mirth. She never noticed how very blue they were almost an electric blue or aqua.

"She was fun for a while but we were never officially dating per se" said kirk

McCoy rolled his eyes at the man's audacity. Sam smirked at him.

"Does she know this?" said Sam

Kirk paused and bit his bottom lip. He nodded more to himself.

"yeah I fairly certain she won't be talking to me for a while" said Kirk

She wondered why he sounded so certain of that but the pilot touched down and the doors slid open. Kirk was already unlatching his harness and she followed suit. McCoy rushed past her on the way to the door. Kirk smirked at his passing.

"come on, enough talk we're here to have fun" said kirk

He pulled her to her feet and steered her out the shuttle door. She could guess by that smirk what he was hoping for in the way of fun. She made a mental note not to get too plastered in his presence. There were quite a few hotels that rented by the hour in this city and she had no intention of being another notch on his bedpost. Kirk led them down the street and they boarded public transit. They got off in downtown and Kirk led them inside to a seedy night club. The music was pounding and she could barely hear what her companions were saying.

She didn't recognize the song but techno was all the same in any century. She stood there swaying to the beat trying to decide if she wanted to go out there on that dance floor alone. Kirk solved her dilemma by grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the floor. She glanced at her other companions and found they had already paired off with partners.

"Now don't laugh at me too badly I'm just a farm boy from Iowa remember" said kirk

"Really I'm from Oklahoma originally" said Sam

Kirk smiled at her and pulled her close. She was swaying her hips to the beat and kirk was simply staring at her.

"So you're the girl next door then?" said kirk

He was teasing and she knew it. She smirked back

"No honey I'm the girl from the wrong side of the tracks" said Sam

"Tracks?" said Kirk

Sam smirked at him sometimes she forgot how old some of the expressions she used were. She rolled her hips through some belly dancing moves and watched as Kirk licked his lips. Men were so predicable no matter what century they were from.

He moved forward and soon they were grinding against each other. He was so close she could reach him with teeth or tongue. So tempting

"It means I'm the girl your mother warned you about" she whispered into his ear.

He smiled again and nuzzled into her hair.

"Well then it's a good thing I didn't heed her warnings" said Kirk

He put his hands on her hips and pulled her back against his front. She gave a throaty chuckle when she felt the hardness. She was about to turn around and tease him about it.

"Cadet Kirk?" said a male voice.

Kirk looked slowly up and frowned. The other dancers had moved away from the two newcomers who were obviously Starfleet police corp.

"Umm yes" said Kirk

His hands still on her hips as they continued to sway to the music.

"You need to come with us cadet" said the cop

Sam slowly stopped swaying because her stomach was suddenly in knots.

"Step away from your fellow cadet please, cadet Kirk" said the cop

"What's going on?" said Sam

McCoy and Sulu were slowly making their way towards Kirk and Sam.

"Miss I have to ask you to stand aside I do not want to hurt you" said the blond cop

"Hurt her, whoa what the hell!" said Kirk

She watched him clench his fists and she was pretty certain he meant to fight the two cops. Sam slowly stepped back but she watched the two cops closely, just to make sure they didn't do anything out of line.

"Thank you miss" said the dark haired cop.

Sam took a quick snapshot of his name tag while Kirk was being handcuffed. Her old cell phone didn't get service for calls but it still made for a decent camera.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening miss" said the dark haired one.

Sam glared at him until he turned away. They were leading Kirk away when McCoy and Sulu finally reached her side.

"What's going on why are they arresting Kirk?" said Sulu

McCoy gave him a level look and Sam finally figured out the good doctor was in on Kirk's little plan. "Come on lets follow them" said Sam

"What's that?" said McCoy

He nodded towards the phone in her hands. She almost laughed because a few centuries ago one of these was practically glued to everyone's hands.

"It's a cell phone, it also takes pictures and records video" said Sam

"Records? You were recording them?" said Sulu

"Yeah one of them threatened me and I don't entirely trust them with Kirk" said Sam

Sulu nodded in understanding.

"So what are you going to do about it?" said McCoy

"Turn their ass in, I'm pretty sure threatening another cadet is against regulations" said Sam

"Yeah, especially if you weren't doing anything illegal" said Sulu

"Come on we should follow them" said Sam

The other two nodded and they made their way out of the club. The cop's car was already gone. So Sam and the others caught public again and got off where the academy shuttles landed. They could see the tail end of the MP's shuttle heading back to Starfleet.

Sam flopped back on the waiting bench and resigned herself to waiting for the next one. It shouldn't be too long of a wait. The waiting area was deserted except for them. Sam killed the phones recorder.

"All right McCoy out with it what did he do?" said Sam

He gave her a wide eyed attempted innocent facial expression. Sam gave him her fiercest glare yet. McCoy sighed and deflated when she didn't fall for his innocent act.

"You remember when he sent us that text saying he was going to change the rules?" said McCoy

"Yeah" said Sam

She remembered the feeling of dread right along with it.

"Well he did" said McCoy

Sam blinked for a second then McCoy's words clicked into place.

"Wait you mean to tell me he hacked the Kobayashi and changed it so he could win?" said Sam

McCoy nodded yes.

"Then they will most likely kick him out" said Sulu

"Or put him on a really long probation so long as he's contrite about it" said Sam

As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they were false. Kirk and contrite just didn't go together. Both men gave her a level look and she knew they weren't buying it either. The knowledge just seemed to fuel her worry. She stood and impatiently tapped her foot. The approaching running lights of the incoming shuttle were not moving fast enough in her opinion.

The shuttle touched down and she was already racing onboard before the doors were fully open. She strapped in and waited while the others did the same at a much slower pace.

"Calm down he's going to be alright" said McCoy

He didn't sound as convincing as she wanted him to. She tapped her foot while the pilot waited for any latecomers. She almost unstrapped and shoved him aside so she could drive, that was the extent of her patience right now. McCoy's hand on her knee stopped her as her hand reached for the latch. She turned slightly towards him. He was almost white as a sheet and he was trying to get her to calm down.

"So doc why does he call you bones? He never said" said Sam

McCoy smirked wanly and she could see him relax just a little bit.

"That's because when he met me on the shuttle in, it was just after my divorce so all I really had left was my bones" said McCoy

"Ouch that bites" said Sulu

Sam raised her eyebrow because Sulu was picking up quite a bit of twentieth century slang from her lately and it was actually kind of funny.

"Oh that's completely horrid" said Sam

McCoy smiled at her display of sympathy and Sam realized belatedly that she had partially hugged the man without realizing it. She reluctantly drew back some. McCoy was staring at her.

"He's right you are quite pretty, I never realized it before now" he said

She gave him a worried look. Jim she expected that behavior from but not Leonard.

"Ah thanks" she said awkwardly.

The shuttle touched down and she quickly unstrapped. McCoy looked disappointed but then shrugged it off because in the end he was worried too. Sam headed straight for the detention center, she knew exactly where it was from her many brushes with Starfleet's security force. She walked right in the front door. The commanding officer on duty stood up to meet her.

"Miss Morningstar to what do I owe this little visit?" said the commander.

Sam smiled at him. Fortunately it was the nice one on duty, so all she had to do was be nice and he would normally be accommodating.

"What I can't miss you guys?" said Sam in a mock pout.

The commander smiled then looked towards the lock up area.

"I can't let you see him regulations, sorry" said the commander

Sam sighed in defeat.

"Well can you at least tell me what he's charged with?" said Sam

McCoy and Sulu walked in behind her and she saw the commanders gaze shift briefly to them then back to her.

"Yeah that I can, cheating and violating academic ethics. Hey look they're treating this kind of seriously so I can't tell you more" said the commander

Sam frowned at him.

"What can you tell me?" said Sam

"Just that his hearing is tomorrow morning, now unless you want to report something I have to ask you to leave" said the commander

McCoy cleared his throat and Sam turned. He gave her a meaning filled look and glanced at her pocket. "Oh yeah as a matter of fact I do" said Sam

She dug out her phone and the man frowned at it.

"What is that? Some sort of antique pad or something?" said the commander.

"Close but I use it as a camera now since there's no wireless service anymore" said Sam

She tapped a few buttons and pulled up the video of what happened at the night club. The commander watched in stony silence as it played. He tapped his fingers on the counter.

"I take it you wish to report their behavior?" said the commander

"No just the one the other guy was polite, the blond was the rude one" said Sam

The commander nodded and typed something into his Padd. Then dug in a drawer for something. After a few moments he held up a cable in triumph.

"You said this does wireless transmissions?" said the commander

"Yes why?" said Sam

"Do you mind if I download this?" said the commander

"No Ethan I'm fine with it" said Sam

The commander smirked at her.

"You remembered my first name" he said

Sam shrugged.

"I've been in here enough times to remember everyone's name, if I cared to" said Sam

He smiled and tapped in a few things in his Padd then plugged the cable into her phone. He saved the video and sent it via text message to his Padd.

"Got it, I'll handle it from here and try not to worry too much Sam I am sure it will all work itself out" said the commander

Sam nodded and reluctantly walked away. At least with Ethan there kirk was in no danger of being hurt. They didn't talk on the way back to her dorm. Sulu and McCoy both escorted her to the dorm building door and thankfully didn't try to make small talk or tell her any false platitudes.

She watched them walk away and knew they must be thinking the same thing she was. Sam walked towards the lift and hit the button. When it showed up she climbed on board and leaned her head back against the lift wall. She could feel the tears begin to gather in her eyes. The door slid open and she angrily wiped the moisture away.

Damn it she refused to feel sorry for him, he did this to himself. She punched in her door code and walked into her room. The empty side of the room that used to be Lela's seemed like it was mocking her tonight. She flopped down on her bed and gave into the tears where no one could see them.

She drifted off into a fit full sleep. She found herself back on the bridge of USS Cadet or at least she thought she was. Except the Kobayashi was already on fire and it wasn't alone. She wasn't the captain this time someone she didn't recognize was and they were shouting orders over the cacophony of the sirens.

Sam's fingers moved across the control panel in front of her, which looked like the helm. The ship shook then suddenly the orders stopped and silence reigned so deep her ears rang from its loss. She glanced to where the captain had been and he was gone. She looked around the bridge. With dawning horror she noted everywhere she looked the stations were empty.

She turned back around and a gaping hole where the view screen had been greeted her. Filling the hole and getting closer by the minute was an alien ship. Something green flashed from the alien ship and Sam sat up with a scream.

Her chest hurt like the oxygen had really been sucked out of the room. She shoved back the sheets that had entangled themselves around her legs and glanced at the clock. It read 0400. Great it was four o'clock in the morning. She must have slept through dinner last night.

She groaned and shoved the blankets off her legs and swung them out of the bed. She had just enough time for a morning run and a shower before they started serving breakfast and she had to report to her first class. She grabbed her running gear and quickly changed clothes.

A fog had rolled in overnight so she could barely see the running trail in front of her or the lights that still lit it up. Only a few other students seemed to be using it this morning so she was absurdly grateful for the silence.

She was still worried about kirk and was wondering if she still wanted to remain if they kicked him out. Sam was rapidly losing friends in this place and it was beginning to take its toll. Her dream last night didn't help any either. She steered around a fellow cadet and then back to where she was running.

"Your moving quite fast this morning, is there any particular reason why?" said a voice to her right.

She turned her head and almost ran into the wall surrounding a flower bed.

"Commander?" said Sam

He had been watching her rather closely as of late and it was starting to bother her. She forgot this was the time he usually ran or else she would have gone later. He raised an eyebrow at her when she changed stride and position so she wouldn't collide with the scenery.

"You startled me, sir" said Sam

"My apologies I forgot the limitations on human eyesight" said Spock

She gritted her teeth to keep what she wanted to say in check. She wished she knew why if he held such a low opinion of humans was he teaching them.

"Your face is already flushed cadet yet you have been running for only twenty minutes, surly I did not startle you that badly" said Spock

She knew what he was asking but she really did not want to give him that opening so she redirected it into subject matters he would be uncomfortable with.

"Just trying to run off the effects of that dream" said Sam

He looked intrigued.

"What dream?" said Spock

She mentally giggled at how ridiculously easy it was to lead him into that question. She brought up some decidedly naughty images from a more pleasant dream and she could feel her face flush in response. She nervously cleared her throat.

"Ah, I don't think I should discus that with you sir" said Sam

He looked momentarily shocked. Sam used that shock to break away from him and run just a bit faster. She knew he would probably catch her but right now she just didn't feel like dealing with nosy Vulcan's. She heard him come up beside her a few minutes later and mentally cursed Vulcan stamina. She almost kicked herself when she saw him flinch. Damn she forgot about the psychic thing.

"Have I done something to offend you cadet Morningstar?" said Spock

She frowned because honestly he hadn't.

"Not that I am aware of sir" said Sam

He stared at her for a few minutes and she could swear he was looking right through her. She deliberately thought about the feel of Kirk's body sliding against hers on the dance floor last night. The sensation abruptly stopped and she could swear his cheeks looked a bit greener.

"Why is it that whenever I speak to you I sense hostility towards my person?" he said

She raised an eyebrow all but mimicking his earlier eye lift.

"I have no hostile feelings towards you sir perhaps you are simply catching me at a bad time" said Sam She couldn't remember being any more hostile towards him than she was towards anyone else, except for when her cycle hit.

Then she was pretty much horrible to everyone. He gave her a strange look and she smirked at him.

"I see" he said

Did he? Did he really? She would be willing to bet he was seeing just how hazardous it was to read her mind right now. He looked confused. Welcome to the world of women sweetie, she thought. He opened his mouth to say something more and Sam cut him off.

"What is it you are really after sir?" said Sam

He tilted his head sideways just a bit. She wondered, if he knew just how much he was giving away in just body language alone.

"I do not understand your meaning cadet" said Spock

Sam glanced to her side and saw Uhura heading in their direction. He knew exactly what she was saying.

"Perhaps you can figure it out later commander, good day" said Sam

She nodded in his direction and jogged away before he could respond. Uhura jogged past her and gave her a strange look as she passed. Sam smiled at her as she passed. She may not be overly fond of Uhura but she didn't deserve to be cheated on. Sam reached her dorm and vanished inside to change clothes. By the time she came back down both of them were gone. She draped her bag strap over her shoulder and headed for the mess hall.

Her thought were half on Kirk and half on Spock. She just couldn't figure the Vulcan out to save her life. If he was single she would say he's possibly interested but she couldn't tell for sure. He has never made any intention known either way. If anything he has been nothing but polite.

She would say his interest was purely academic if her marks were any higher but in all honestly they were quite average. So what gives? Was it that she challenged him on that first day or was it because she kept doing so every chance she got?

She got in line behind the other cadets and grabbed a tray. A quick glance around the room yielded Alex sitting next to Sulu. A very subdued McCoy was picking at his food next to him. Sam picked up her tray and made her way towards the group.

She sat down without a word but she caught Alex's worried look. Everyone looked like they had gotten just as much sleep as she did. At least she wasn't alone in this. The food tasted like dust today but she managed to choke it down. The others ate about as much as she did.

She put up her tray when she was done and just like the others trays her was half full. They started towards their first classes of the day when the announcement speakers came on.

"All cadets and instructors are to report to the main auditorium" said the message


	8. Chapter 8

Red 8

Sam took a deep breath here it was. She glanced at the others and they looked just as worried as she did. They nodded and followed her out of the mess hall. For some reason Sam seemed to have been made the unofficial leader of this little party. As a group they mingled with the growing crowd heading towards the auditorium. This was definitely for a disciplinary committee no other event would have a turn out like this. Her worry grew by leaps and bounds and she started softly praying under her breath.

"I didn't know you were religious" said Bones

"I'm not usually but given the circumstances I think he can use all the help he can get" said Sam

They walked up the stairs and through the doors. McCoy took over briefly when she couldn't decide where to sit and found them some seats in the middle towards the aisle. The judge's seats were all mostly empty and Sam noted their names on the name plates. Two of them she recognized as having a problem with Kirk's attitude and at least three were there for her hearing.

"Not good" said McCoy

She looked at him and he nodded to across the row. Spock was sitting down at one of the outer seats usually kept vacate for instructors. He was staring at Sam so she ignored his gaze. Instead she faced forward and watched as the judges filed into the room and took their seats. Sam eyed them dispassionately, trying to see if any one of them looked as if they could be even remotely sympathetic to Kirk.

She turned and noted the hall was almost filled. She had a momentary morbid thought that now would be the perfect time for an enemy to strike with all of them assembled in here. She heard the swoosh of the outer doors and the room went silent. Kirk was led into the room by two MP's and seated at the end of the row right in the front. Sam noted at least he wasn't cuffed. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Sam studied Kirk. He was sporting a bruise on his cheek that hadn't been there the night before. Which meant he most likely got into it with that guard. He looked calm and composed but Sam knew him well enough she could tell he was nervous, maybe even a little bit scared.

One of the judges tapped a hammer on the desk in front of him. Sam noted with amusement that judges still used a gavel in this day and age.

"Order! Come to order!" he shouted

It was somewhat unnecessary because he already had silence and everyone's attention.

"Cadet Kirk step forward" said the judge

Sam watched Kirk stand up straighten his uniform and walk to the small podium at the front of the room.

"Cadet Kirk evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you have violated the ethical code of conduct pursuitent to star fleet regulation 17.43. Is there anything you care to say before we begin?" said the judge

Sam's stomach did a flip flop.

"Yes I believe I have the right to face my accuser" said Kirk

Spock slowly stood up and Sam firmly resisted the urge to groan.

"Step forward please, this is Commander Spock he is one of our more distinguished graduates. He has programmed the Kobayashi test for the last four years" said the judge

Spock took up the position behind the second podium and turned to face Kirk. Sam stared in shock. He programs that monstrosity, no wonder it was so messed up. Only a Vulcan would think terror was a logical test of one's abilities.

"Commander?" said the judge

"Cadet Kirk you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine, thereby altering the tests conditions" said Spock

Sam's gaze flicked across the room and landed squarely on Gallia. The woman looked both nervous and angry. So that's what Kirk meant by her not wanting to talk to him again. He must have used Gallia to gain access to the system that ran the test. He probably seduced her to do it too. Idiot thought Sam though she wasn't quite sure which of the two was the stupider.

"Your point being?" said Kirk, his tone was nonchalant as if he didn't care

"In academic vernacular you cheated" said the judge

"Let me ask you something, that I think we all know the answer to, the test itself is a cheat isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable" said Kirk

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no win scenario" said Spock

"I don't believe in a no win scenario" said Kirk

Sam smiled she didn't either. There was always a way to win even if it was nothing more than a smile in the face of certain death. Sam turned her gaze towards Spock. What was the Vulcan really so bent about?

"Not only did you violate the rules but you failed to understand the principal lesson" said Spock

Sam frowned, principal lesson? What the hell was he talking about? That life sucked, pretty sure most of them got that memo a long time ago.

"Please enlighten me" said kirk

Sam sat forward because she was curious too. What were they really trying to measure with that test?

"You of all people should know cadet Kirk that a captain cannot cheat death" said Spock

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. Oh no he did not just go there? That was just low even for a Vulcan.

Sam glanced at McCoy and saw he was just as upset for his friend as she was. She barely resisted the urge to scream bad form at the Vulcan. Kirk shifted and Sam could see he was holding back the anger. Sam silently prayed he wouldn't do something stupid like punch that pointy eared bastard, not that he didn't deserve it.

"Your father Lieutenant George Kirk assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action did he not?" said Spock

Even Sam wanted to slap that self-satisfied smirk off his face. McCoy swore under his breath beside her. She carefully laid her hand on his arm and squeezed. He gave her a look and then nodded understanding what she was trying to convey without words. She had to hand it to Kirk he kept his cool amazingly well.

"I don't think you like that I beat your test" said Kirk

"Furthermore you have failed to define the purpose of the test" said Spock

"Enlighten me again" said Kirk

His jaw was tense, but otherwise he gave no indication that he was about two seconds away from punching a certain Vulcan right square in the nose.

"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear, to maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every star fleet captain" said Spock

Sam frowned that was what he was trying to measure, seriously? No wonder she failed. She lived in a constant state of fear since she got here. That and she had already faced certain death because she had been more than certain when she fell from that bridge that she was going to die. Did screaming your bloody head off all the way down count as maintaining control? She doubted it, there were just some things you couldn't control.

Kirk looked as though he were struggling to maintain that control when one of the guards hurried forward and handed the main judge a Padd. The judge tapped the open key and Sam felt an odd sense of déjà vu. Her stomach flopped again, why was she so nervous? The judge briefly read it then looked up at the assembled cadets.

"We've received a distress call from Vulcan with our primary fleet engaged in the Lorenceian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to hanger one immediately, dismissed" said the judge

The sound of everyone climbing to their feet was thunderous. Sam grabbed McCoy's hand and dragged him through the exiting crowd towards Kirk. Dodging leaving cadets as she did so. She passed Spock as he exited and he gave her a strange look.

"You okay?' said Sam

Kirk smiled at her.

"Yeah I'm fine who the hell is that pointy eared bastard?" said Kirk

"That would be the jerk that nearly got me kicked out over my choice of footwear" said Sam

"I liked your footwear" said McCoy

Sam snorted and gave him a level look

"No you like my legs, the footwear is just an excuse to look" said Sam

McCoy smirked and followed Sam towards the door. Kirk hesitated for a second and they turned to see why he wasn't following.

"He said all cadets" said McCoy

Kirk nodded

"So he did" said Kirk

He put an arm around Sam's shoulders and squeezed one briefly. He was forced to remove that hand as the bottle neck for the door shoved them into single file. She sighed in relief as the sunlight hit her eyes a second later. Everyone in the school was heading for the landing pads.

Hanger one was on the space station and it was also the only way to access the only ships in dock at the moment. People were filing into the available shuttles as they approached. One of the instructors spotted her and waved her over. Sam went with a strange look on her face.

"Morningstar?" said the commander

"Yes sir that's me" said Sam

He pointed to one of the parked shuttles.

"That one's yours you've got ferry duty, report to the watch commander after your last run" said the commander.

Sam nodded and headed for the shuttle in question. A group of cadets spotted her heading for it and started following her. McCoy and Jim snuck into the group. Sam punched in her door code and the loading ramp slid out. She headed for the pilots chair and took a seat as the back began to fill up. Her copilot sat down and she turned.

"Hey Hershey" said Sam

"Morningstar, hey cool glad to see you again" said the man

He was dressed like an instructor for some reason.

"You made instructor?" said Sam

"Yeah self-defense class first year" said Hershey

Sam smiled and glanced behind her at the cabin. It was almost full. She spotted Kirk and McCoy trying to blend into the group. Two more people climbed aboard and the ship was full. She spotted Spock heading for the ship.

She gave the signal that the shuttle was full and closed the door. If Spock got onboard he would surly make Kirk get off the shuttle. Sam fired up the engines and waited for the tower to clear her. As soon as the word came through she lifted off as she did so she noticed Spock disappear into another shuttle. She got in line behind the previous shuttle to depart and headed for the station.

As she was landing she noted two of the shuttles were already returning for more cadets. At this rate the entire academy would be empty in no time. She touched down and opened the door. The cadets unstrapped and filed out the door. Sam noted that McCoy was steering kirk out of the shuttle and towards sick bay.

She nodded and closed the door as soon as the last cadet was clear. She waited for a second then moved her shuttle into the line of departing shuttles to do another run. As soon as she received word she followed the shuttle in front of her out and back to the planet. Parked it and waited for it to fill up again. As soon as it did so she took off again. Unloaded and took off for one last run.

"Should be the last run this time, pickings are getting mighty slim" said Hershey

Sam looked down at the approaching school. The shuttle ahead of theirs was already taking off and there was only a few people waiting. The school was eerily silent. The buildings stood empty when they should have students in the classrooms at this hour. Hershey noticed her uneasy stare.

"Yeah it's kind of creepy isn't it" said Hershey

"Yeah" said Sam

She landed the shuttle and flicked the switch for the doors. She leaned back and waited while ten to twelve people climbed on board. She waited a few minutes more. They were going to be the last shuttle out so she decided a few seconds more just to make sure she got the last of the stragglers. A cab pulled up in front of the school, one of those fancy flying models.

The passenger got out and ran across the lawn to the landing pad. She noted his uniform as he approached, some ship would have been minus its captain if she didn't wait. The man rushed on board and quickly sat down. Sam looked up as he passed and grinned. She knew the man.

"Hey Captain Pike, running a bit late there you almost missed us" said Sam

"Thanks for waiting Samantha" said Pike

He sighed and sat down. He was strapping himself in when two more guys dressed like captains climbed onboard. Sam shook her head and smirked, waited a few minutes more then closed the doors. They were the last one to the station and four ships were still docked. Sam shut down the shuttle and opened the doors.

Sam climbed out of her seat and followed Hershey out of the shuttle. Pike was already heading for another shuttle. Sam walked up to the flight deck supervisor.

"Morningstar" said Sam

The man looked at his Padd.

"Reliant, helm. Better hurry that's your captain" said the manager

He pointed to a man running for one of the shuttles. Sam hurried after him and so did Hershey. Sam climbed onboard and strapped in. Hershey strapped in next to her. The captain was eyeing her. She stared right back.

"Captain Terrell, they say your my helmsman" said the man

He extended his hand to her and she shook it.

"Samantha Morningstar" said Sam

She shook his hand briefly

"I see you've already met my first officer ,lieutenant Hershey and I already know each other, you I am unfamiliar with I am afraid" said Terrell

Sam wasn't quite sure what he was asking.

"Ah what do you want to know?" said Sam

He tapped on his Padd and frowned at the screen. She could guess he was looking at her less than stellar academic record.

"It says here you're a member of the Raptors, that's a stunt team is it not?" said Terrell

"Yes sir one of the best" said Sam

Terrell raised an eyebrow

"The team that is" said Sam

That earlier statement sounded a bit arrogant to her. He nodded and looked out the window. He lowered the Padd in his hands.

"There she is, so beautiful and about to take her maiden voyage" said Terrell.

Sam turned so she could see the ship out of the window. It looked different than the enterprise. Sam opened her mouth to ask a question but Hershey beat her to it.

"What class is it, I don't think I've ever seen that design before?" said Hershey

Terrell smiled at the question

"Miranda class, and no you haven't she's the first of her class, just like that constitution class sitting next to her" said Terrell proudly

Sam smiled because he was right it was a beautiful ship. It wasn't huge like the one sitting next to it but in her opinion that made it all the better.

"Looks kind of tiny" said Hershey

Terrell gave him a scathing look. Sam tilted her head and stared at the ship as they neared it. She noted the torpedo tubes and the multiple phaser banks.

"Yes but I bet it packs quite a punch" said Sam

She nodded towards the ship Terrell looked where she was looking and smirked.

"Yeah the schematics say its packing a nice little arsenal for a vessel that was originally supposed to be a science vessel" said Terrell

They pulled into the ships docking bay. The shuttle pilot shut down the shuttles engines and opened the hatch. Sam unstrapped. This was it this was her first assignment. She was literally going into space. She felt giddy and terrified at the same time. She glanced at the captain and frowned. Why did the man look so familiar?

Something was nagging in the back of her mind it wasn't until they exited the turbo lift onto the bridge that it finally clicked into place. This was the bridge from her dream. Terrell headed for the captain's chair. Sam just stood there for a moment staring at the people who had been in her dream. She didn't know their names but their faces were unforgettable.

"Any day now cadet Morningstar" said Terrell

Sam swallowed the nervous lump of fear and made her way towards the helm. She sat down then remembering her dream strapped herself in.

"Cadet it's not necessary to strap in when we are just leaving the station" said Terrell.

Sam nodded and started her preflight. The rhythm of Terrell's fingers on the arm of the captain's chair was quite annoying. Sam turned to look at the man.

"Ready when you are cadet" said Terrell

Sam glanced at communications the Vulcan woman nodded in her direction

"We've been cleared by the tower" said the Vulcan

"Very good T'lin, Morningstar take us out" said Terrell

Sam swallow and urged the controls forward. The ship slowly moved forward and out of the launch bay. Sam set the course for Vulcan and reached for the warp controls. She took a deep breath and pushed the lever forward. The stars became blurred lines in front of her. The feeling nagged at her again and Sam checked her sensors.

A small unidentified blip was showing up on the edge of her screen. Sam slid the ship out of warp. She hit the port thrusters just as the ship dropped out of warp. Right into a field of debris.

"Raise shields" said Terrell

The guy next to her did so with a quick movement. He gave Sam a glance and she looked down at his lap. He reached for his restraints and fastened them. She heard the soft clicks as a few of the others did the same. The captain still hadn't though and it worried her. Sam steered the ship behind what looked like one of their ships.

"Those are Vulcan ships" said the communications officer

"Not all of them" said the guy next to her at the ops station.

A quick glance at his board told Sam all she needed to know. The guy next to her had the tactical displays on his control panel. She was glad he had decided to strap in for some reason she felt she was really going to need him.

"T'lin fire off an encoded message to all incoming ships, this is a trap, repeat this is a trap" said Terrell

T'lin nodded and hit the controls.

"Morningstar, Cho what have you got for me?" said Terrell

Cho tapped his keys. "The only other ship still running out there is that monstrosity on our starboard side" said Cho

Sam was staring in shock at the image on the view screen. That was the ship, the one from her dream the one that... okay Sam stop it she mentally chided herself. Get a grip and get your mind in the here and now. You know what happened in the dream just don't repeat that and you should be fine.

"Any idea what class it is or where it's from?" said Terrell

Sam was staring at her read outs she had no idea what it was or where it was from but she would be willing to bet her iPod that it was hostile.

"should I hail it sir?" said T'lin

Sam's eyes widened in horror as her dream flashed before her eyes. They had hailed it right before it attacked them, which meant they shouldn't hail it.

"Yes let's see who they are and what they are up to" said Terrell

"No!" Sam blurted

T'lin's fingers froze on the controls.

"cadet Morningstar you have an objection to my orders?" said Terrell

Sam swallowed because what she had just done sounded a lot like insubordination.

"Sir, I just believe we should proceed with caution. The ship is obviously hostile or the Vulcan's would not have called for help, I do not believe it has spotted us as of yet and from this debris field I am not sure we wish it to" said Sam

Yes that sounded cowardly but damn it his actions would definitely get them all killed. Captain Terrell seemed to think about what she said for a few minutes.

"T'lin belay that order" said Terrell

Sam sighed in relief and everyone on the bridge gave her a perplexed look.

"Sir I have another ship on an approach vector, it appears to be exiting the atmosphere right now" said Cho

Suddenly the black ship fired and the ship burst apart like toy under a car wheel. Sam stared at the debris in horror.

"Red alert, Cho lock phasers on that vessel" said Terrell

Sam gasped because he had said that in the dream. She opened her mouth to protest.

"Cho fire all phasers" said Terrell

Sam gasped as the beams of light streaked away from the ship and struck the other one. They didn't appear to do any damage but now the other ship was turning towards them. Sam's fingers were already flying across the controls before Terrell could even say the word evasive.


	9. Chapter 9

Red 9

The ship was turning but it felt agonizingly slow to her. The beams were getting closer they were almost out of range. She thought they were home free for a second before it hit. The ship shuttered and bucked beneath them. The shields were still holding for now.

"Shields have dropped to forty percent captain" said Cho

Sam caught that worried look he quickly tried to conceal. She wondered what class level he was at because she knew even the first years had been shoved into the shuttles. Her gaze landed on a huge piece of debris that drifted past the view screen. She wondered briefly if any of those first years were even still alive.

"Shields are down to twenty percent sir" said Cho

The alien ship had been pounding them since it turned and it was going to break through their shields at any second. Sam's fingers flew across the panel and steered the ship so one of the larger debris pieces was between the ship and the alien ship. It would give them a brief respite but only until the other ship moved.

"Morningstar take us to 1.745, full impulse" said Terrell

Sam wanted to groan the man was forsaking safety for a shot at wounding the other ship

"Cho open fire the second we are clear" said Terrell

Sam sighed and did as she was told. She guessed today was as good as any on which to die. The other ship anticipated this move and opened fire one last time. Sam realized belatedly that the other ship whoever they were knew star fleet tactics. The ship rocked and then suddenly there was deafening silence. Her ears felt like they were under water or on a plane waiting for them to pop. Sam looked up from her panel and froze.

The view screen and the whole front half of the bridge were gone. She turned to see the captain hanging onto his chair. Where was Hershey? Sam looked for him and saw him sliding towards the hole. He looked unconscious and was making no effort to slow his slide towards certain death. Why wasn't the emergency shield kicking into place? The other ship was angling for the killing shot. Another of those volleys into the bridge would kill everyone here, including her.

On impulse Sam puled the lever that would angle the bow up and present the tougher belly of the ship to the enemy vessel. Hershey stopped sliding just as the emergency shields came on. Sam's ears still felt like they were filled with cotton. Cho swayed next to her and she felt somewhat light headed for some reason. Low oxygen her mind automatically identified. Sam reached across her panel to his and hit the emergency oxygen button. Masks fell from the ceiling and Sam quickly shoved hers over her nose and mouth. She took a deep gulping breath and pressed the second mask to Cho's face beside her. He blinked and then suddenly gripped the mask.

"thanks" said Cho

Though the sentiment was muffled by the mask. Sam quickly steered the ship behind some more debris. They were sitting ducks without those shields and the aliens knew that. Sam turned to find most of the crew was coming around.

She glanced at the captain, he wasn't moving and neither was Hershey. She mentally reviewed regulations to see who was supposed to be in charge if both the captain and first officer were incapacitated. She swore softly when she remembered it was whoever the helm officer was, which made it her. Oh crap she was in charge.

"T'lin get medical up here stat, Polanski check the captain and Mr. Hershey's vitals but don't move them" said Sam the Vulcan woman nodded and hit some buttons.

"they will be here shortly captain" said T'lin

Sam glanced in her direction apparently Sam wasn't the only one who memorized regulations.

"Captain we are getting reports of fires on decks seven through four" said Cho

Sam winced because that was where she had just angled the ship so it would get hit there.

"Tell them to get it out as best they can" said Sam

The turbo lift doors slid open, the medical personnel stopped and stared at the gaping hole in their ship. "Enough staring you two help the captain and Mr. Hershey" said Sam

The men blinked then swiftly moved forward. A few minutes later they were wheeling both Hershey and Terrell off the bridge on gurneys. Sam swallowed nervously great she was hoping at least one of them would wake up and take over. Everyone was staring at her now and Sam noted that all the positions that had been empty in her dream were still filled. Which meant she had changed it, they weren't going to die unless she really screwed up. She took a deep breath.

"T'lin mark this in the log, Ensign Samantha Morningstar acting helm officer is hereby elevated to the rank of lieutenant under star fleet code 6741. 6 covering battlefield promotions and is assuming command of the USS Reliant, until either the first officer or captain is able to resume command as pursuant Starfleet regulations 856.2 section 15" said Samantha

"So noted" said T'lin

"Cho status?" said Sam

"We have no shields, one of our engines is damaged but we still have impulse thrusters and all of our weapons" said Cho

It was obvious by the way he said weapons he expected her to throw themselves at the other ship and hope they destroyed it before it destroyed them. That idea was suicidal at best. It would be exactly what any other star fleet captain would do. Except the enemy knew that. So that means she can't do that because they would anticipate that, and most likely kill them. Sam looked out the hole and reviewed her options. There was a debris field all but circling the planet and just a bit of a ways off there was an asteroid cluster. Sam made her decision and laid in a course for that cluster.

"Captain?" said Cho

"Don't worry Mr. Cho we're not deserting them just making it look like we are" said Sam

Cho gave her a confused look but stopped questioning her. Sam positioned the ship behind the biggest asteroid she could find. Sam stared at the other ship for a few seconds then turned to Polanski

"Mr. Polanski what can you tell me about that ship?" said Sam

The science officer turned to his screen and typed on his panel.

"It appears to be a mining vessel or some sort of heavy transport, its make and origin are uncertain. It is however heavily armed more so than we are and its shields are still at maximum" said Polanski

He glanced at Cho and swallowed. Chagrinned Cho looked away.

"so in other words we are outgunned and have no clue who that vessel belongs to beyond the fact it is clearly hostile" said Sam

She turned and surveyed her crew, man that sounded weird even in her head. Her gaze landed on T'lin and suddenly she had an idea.

"T'lin do you know of any race that would be openly hostile to the Vulcan people?" said Sam

The others turned to look at the sole Vulcan in the room. T'lin seemed to take an awful long time giving an answer.

"My species is usually quite peaceful but I know we do have a history of hostilities with the Romulans" said T'lin

Sam nodded that made more sense than some random ship deciding to target Vulcan.

"Sir if it is the Romulan's they are quite familiar with both our tactics and Starfleet's" said T'lin

Sam understood what she was trying to say, she had caught on that they seemed to know their tactics too.

"Captain Permission to speak freely" said Cho

"Always Mr. Cho, go ahead" said Sam

He looked relieved for some reason.

"Ma'am we should attack them now when they are no longer concerned with us" said Cho

Sam nodded she had a feeling he was going to say something like that.

"That would be stupid didn't you hear me when I said their shields have full power?" said Polanski

He seemed to realize at the last moment that he had just argued with his fellow officer in front of his captain. Even if she was just the acting captain she could still have him thrown in the brig.

"Relax Mr. Polanski, Mr. Cho I have every intention of attacking that ship back just as soon as I can figure out how to do so without getting us blown out of the sky" said Sam

"I feel I must point out the error of that statement it is unlikely that we will explode should they hit us again. We are more likely to simply break apart as there is no oxygen in space to fuel combustion" said T'lin

Everyone gave her an incredulous look, Sam shook her head immediately dismissing her angry retort clearly T'lin was under a great deal of stress and had no idea how to react to it. Personally Sam didn't agree with the Vulcan habit of suppressing their emotions she felt that someday they were going to simply explode. The rest of the crew glared at T'lin.

"Okay thanks for the info, ideas?" said Sam

She was drawing a blank and they was out here on their own, she wasn't prepared for this none of them were.

"If we had another ship we could..." said Polanski

Sam frowned if they had another ship. Sam could just leave them to deal with this and limp this ship on home and get a new windshield.

"Well we don't have a..." said Cho

"Captain I'm being hailed" said T'lin

Sam started to say put it on the main screen but that would be some feat considering it was no longer there.

"Audio only T'lin" said Sam

T'lin glanced at the space the screen had once occupied and gave Sam a level look, Sam shrugged at her in return.

"Do you intend to hide?" said a new voice.

It was definitely male and mocking.

"Only if you continue to shoot at us, to whom am I speaking?" said Sam

T'lin was looking at something on her screen and wearing the Vulcan equivalent of a frown.

"You are a woman?" said the man

He sounded shocked and Sam smirked. Men who reacted that way usually underestimate a woman when they encounter one in a command position. It was something she could use against him all she had to do was get him to act on it.

"Yes, you sound shocked by that captain..?" said Sam

"Nero, do you have visual by any chance? I like to see who I am addressing, captain?" said Nero "Morningstar and regrettably no my ship no longer has visual communications but it does have a great view" said Sam

She had wandered away from her station and was now stopped squarely in front of the opening where the view screen had been. She was frighteningly aware that all that stood between her and certain death was a thin screen of energy. He laughed

"You have an interesting sense of humor captain Morningstar it is captain is it not?" said Nero

"It is now" said Sam

She didn't know why she gave him that little tidbit, maybe she was hoping he would underestimate her further if he knew she was inexperienced.

"Ah I see is that why you hide little captain, is it terror that has you fleeing me" said Nero

Sam turned back towards her crew and smirked at them. They all gave her confused looks. She laughed

"I suppose you'd rather I paint a huge red and white circle on my ship's side and then be gracious enough to hold still for you" said Sam

"It would be much a much swifter and more merciful end then waiting for your systems to fail" said Nero

Cho mouthed that they had just been scanned by the other ship. Sam was staring at the other ship searching it with her eyes for a weakness.

"Speaking of ships where did you get yours from its very beautiful" said Sam

It was in a sort of creepy vessel of death sort of way. He laughed again.

"Are you trying to ask me from whence I hail captain?" said Nero

"I believe I just did" said Sam

He chuckled again seemingly amused by her words.

"The Nerada's design is quite simplistic I am afraid. I would hardly call it a work of art, it is after all simply a mining vessel, and as to your rather pointed query I hail from Romulus. Does that sate your curiosity little captain or would you like to beam over and let me sate mine?" said Nero

The way he said that had Sam seriously wondering if the Romulan was making a pass at her.

"I am afraid I would have to decline that… invitation" said Sam

Cho waved at her to get her attention.

"Such a pity I so wished to see if human females are as fragile as they say" said Nero

Sam frowned she didn't like the way he said that, it sounded very double entendre. She chose to ignore the obvious lewdness of that comment. He did claim to be a miner after all.

"Why are you here Captain Nero?" said Sam

She leaned over Cho and looked at his screen. Sam nodded when she read the telltale signs that another of their ships was incoming. She guessed it was the enterprise and wondered what had took them so long.

"Oh please just Nero will be fine, there is no need to stand on formalities. Speaking of which I do not believe I caught your first name" said Nero

She smiled so he wanted to be on a first name basis did he, cheeky little bastard wasn't he? Still it might make him let his guard down some more, plus while he was distracted he wouldn't notice the enterprise until it was too late.

"It's Samantha if you really must know" said Sam

She signaled Cho to be ready at the weapons system. They would only get one chance at this. As soon as the enterprise came out of warp the Nerada would open fire on them. Cho nodded in understanding. Sam wished she had her notepad on her she needed to say a few things to her crew that she didn't want Nero to hear.

"Samantha what a lovely name it matches your lovely voice, oh how I wish I could see you" said Nero Sam could see where his bridge was and it had a front window like some of the other Starfleet vessels. The only difference was his was partially concealed. It was currently facing their direction at the moment which meant it wasn't facing the enterprise's exit vector.

"Well if you look out your front window you could probably see me" said Sam

She walked towards the view screen again and stood there looking out at the ship. She could see someone standing in the window area. She raised her hand and waved to him. They heard silence from the Nerada for a few seconds

"You are a tiny thing aren't you, you were right that is quite a view" said Nero

Sam frowned so she was a bit short, but tiny? Just how big were Romulan's anyways?

"Small packages sometimes contain big things" said Sam

He chuckled in response.

"You never answered me why are you here, I get that Romulan's haven't always been on the best terms but why are you doing this?" said Sam

"Ah I see you know something of my people enough to quote one of our proverbs, badly I might add, yet it is understanding you still seek" said Nero

Sam smiled

"Anger always has a reason, love not so much" said Sam

He laughed again and it was about that time the enterprise finally showed up. She heard one of his crew members talking softly to him

"They cut us off captain" said T'lin

Sam barely restrained the urge to swear, damn it she had him distracted. Stupid observant crew members.

"Cho arm our weapons and somebody look up Romulan mining vessels we need to find that things weakness" said Sam

"On it captain" said Polanski

"Captain they are firing on the enterprise" said Cho

"Take out those torpedoes Cho" said Sam

The man's hands moved across the board and two lines of light sped to intercept the Nerada's projectiles.

"I think I found it ma'am" said the andorian girl

"Very good ah..?" said Sam

"Cadet Neru, captain" said the Andorian girl

Sam leaned over and looked where she pointed. The information on the screen wasn't exact but could be very useful.

"Thank you Neru that is precisely what I was looking for" said Sam

She walked over to the helm and sat down. She strapped herself in and started up the ships engines. At the moment the Nerada was firing at the enterprise and ignoring them. Sam pulled back the lever and backed their ship away from the asteroid they were currently sitting on. She carefully maneuvered the ship around the asteroids and debris so they were coming up behind the Nerada. The enterprise wasn't moving and that is when Sam noticed a second problem.

"what is that hanging off the bottom of the ship?" said Sam

"It appears to be a drill, captain" said Neru

Why in the world would they drill into an inhabited planet? For some reason a scene from one of her favorite movies, Armageddon, flashed through her mind. The line about drilling down far enough caught in her mind.

"Cho open fire, make sure you hit that drill" said Sam

She had a seriously horrified thought that they were trying to blow up Vulcan. The Nerada had stopped firing on the enterprise and was now trying to hit them too. Except Sam had positioned their ship close enough to the backside of the Nerada, right between their gun placements. So no matter how they turned they could not hit them.

"Captain we're being hailed, it's on Starfleet frequency" said T'lin

For a Vulcan she sounded a bit emotional almost relieved sounding.

"Thank you whoever you are" said Pike

"Whoever I am, really Pike forget me already?" said Sam

"Samantha?" said Pike

"Yep, you guys okay?" said Sam

"Yes we're a bit banged up but still mostly functional, Samantha where is your captain?" said Pike "Sickbay" said Sam

"And your first officer?" said Pike

"The same, what took you guys so long?' said Sam

"So that would make you the captain, wait no, you're only an ensign aren't you?" said Pike

"Ah not anymore, its part battlefield promotion and placement, they're Romulan's. That ship is a mining vessel" said Sam

"I see thank you Samantha" said Pike

For a second Sam was worried he was going to send them home. The line suddenly went dead and Sam looked at T'lin

"Jammed, the Nerada is talking to them captain" said T'lin

Sam wasn't focusing on her however she was looking at the piece of the Nerada that was within spitting distance to the hole where their front windshield had been. Something was crawling along its surface. "What in the world?" said Sam

"Ma'am a shuttle just launched from the enterprise" said Neru


	10. Chapter 10

Red 10

"Polanski how many transporters do we have on this ship?" said Sam

"Ah the standard five on deck four and two cargo pads on deck twelve, why?" said Polanski

"Get someone manning all of them and someone find me a volunteer" said Sam

"A volunteer ma'am, what for?" said Cho

"I want a sample of that ship somehow its repairing the damage we did to it and I want to know if we can use that to our advantage" said Sam

"Yes captain" said Polanski

"Captain three people just jumped from that shuttle down to the drilling platform" said Neru

"T'lin get me engineering I want that sample now" sad Sam

"Captain the crew reports the transporter pads are manned now what?" said Neru

"Have them start randomly targeting the citizenry of Vulcan and send them to our cargo hold. Have someone from operations run tie downs across that whole area they are going to need a way to hang on" said Sam

"Hang on?" said Polanski

"Captain, I must protest randomly beaming the citizenry into our cargo hold constitutes kidnapping and will greatly offend my people" said T'lin

"T'lin look out there what do you see?" said Sam

"A hostile Romulan vessel" said T'lin

"Yes it is a hostile Romulan mining vessel what do miners use to clear tunnels?" said Sam

"Explosives?" said Neru

"Exactly cadet Neru, now do you see why I am evacuating as many Vulcans as I can" said Sam

T'lin's eyes widened in shock

"You suspect they intend to blow up Vulcan?" said T'lin

"Yes, yes I do "said Sam

"But captain the amount of explosives needed to do so is more than most mining vessels carry" said T'lin

"When has that ship or its captain shown itself to be typical? Look if I am wrong I will formally apologize to the Vulcan senate in person" said Sam

"We won't be able to go to warp with that hole in our hull. The pressure change will tear the ship apart" said Polanski

"Yes I know that is why I need that sample, T'lin?" said Sam

She tapped a few keys.

" Putting you through to engineering captain, oh and deck four has starting beaming a bunch of angry Vulcans onboard and security is handling the tie downs would you like me to dispatch some to talk to our guests?" said T'lin

Sam could tell the woman suspected the worst too.

"Engineering Tucker speaking, what can I help you with captain?" said Trip

"Trip? Is that you?" said Sam

"Samantha? What are you doing on the captain's line?" said Trip

"I'm acting captain now Terrell and Hershey are in sick bay, trip I need you to find me someone willing to walk outside with a plasma torch and get me a sample of that ship" said Sam

"A sample? What for? And aren't they shooting at us right now?" said Trip

"we have a hole in the front saucer section, and I want to see if those self-repairing properties I am seeing will work for our ship, and no they can't even hit us where we are now, which is technically piggybacking them at the moment" said Sam

"They might try to stop us" said Trip.

"don't worry we'll be covering him" said Sam

" gotcha captain, I think I have just the man hold on" said Trip

He hung up and then came back on the line a few minutes later.

"Okay he's suiting up, where do I send him?" said Trip

"Tell him to go out the starboard side airlock on deck twelve, we'll cover him with the cannons" said Sam

Cho gave her a level look.

"The cannons?" said Trip

"Okay I'll tell him" said Trip and sighed off.

"Captain there appears to be a fight in progress on the drill platform and we just lost one of them over the side" said Cho

"I take it no one could get a lock on him?" said Sam

"No he was falling too fast, sorry captain" said Cho

She closed her eyes briefly. Another loss just what they didn't need.

Sam moved towards the opening and looked out

"Captain we have a lot of angry Vulcans onboard and some of them are demanding answers" said T'lin.

Sam sighed

"fine patch me through to the decks" said Sam

T'lin did so an looked towards her.

"This is captain Morningstar of the USS Reliant. I am sorry about the abruptness of your departure but in light of a significant threat to your world, I felt it necessary to evacuate as many people as I could. If I am wrong about this threat I do apologize. Also you will notice several straps lining the deck these are for your safety should we have to maneuver quickly. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation" said Sam

She gave the signal to kill the feed right afterwards. T'lin turned and stared at her because she had said that whole thing in Vulcan, oddly the Vulcan woman actually looked impressed. She spotted movement by her ship and saw her man slowly move out of the ship. T'lin had her head bent over the console and appeared to be monitoring their lone space walker.

"Cho watch that ship for any movement" said Sam

She watched a bright spark light up against one of the other ship's tendrils, she wasn't sure what purpose those things served as but they were protecting them at the moment.

"Captain we've got movement" said Neru

Sam heard T'lin pass that information on to the lone away member.

"Is he done yet?" said Sam

"No captain he still has a small section to go" said Polanski

"Mr. Cho target those advancing Romulan's with the plasma cannons and blow them away, T'lin tell whoever that is out there to keep working" said Sam

She relayed the message and Cho's finger flew across the panel in front of him. Their guns only needed to fire once and all five advancing attackers were gone. Sam waited tensely expecting Nero to respond in some way.

"Captain that shuttle went inside the Nerada and hasn't come out yet" said Neru

"T'lin contact the enterprise and find out what is going on" said Sam

Their guy was done and currently making their way back inside. She sighed when he reached the airlock and vanished inside.

"Captain their communications officer reports that Captain Pike has surrendered to the enemy ship, and Kirk and Sulu were trying to sabotage the drill, acting captain Spock has come to the same conclusion that you have" said T'lin

She sounded worried to same

"Is our guy back on board yet?" said Sam

"Yes captain" said Neru

"Good have him report to the bridge and bring that chunk of funky space ship with them" said Sam "Funky?" said T'lin

The turbo lift doors slid open and onto the deck walked a kid in a jump suit. He stared at the hole in the front of the room

"Hey kid you got it?" said Sam

He held up the piece in his hand. It looked like it was already trying to repair itself in his hand.

"Great now weld it to that strut" said Sam

She pointed at the hole. They gave her a strange look.

"Captain?' said the boy

"Yes, now move we haven't got all day" said sam.

The boy shrugged and moved forward to comply. Several sets of eyes were giving her weird looks. The boy started welding it in place and the piece moved. The boy jumped back and Sam moved closer. She knelt down and stared at it. The small piece he had welded in place was growing. Sending out some sort of tendrils like plant vines.

"Captain careful you're not wearing gloves" said the kid

"What's your name kid?" said Sam

"Reese sir err ma'am" said the kid

"Good work Reese, that'll be all" said Sam

The kid nodded and walked towards the lift. Sam turned back to the now rapidly diminishing hole in their hull.

"Captain they've just launched something down the drill" said Neru

"any idea what it is?" said Sam

"No clue captain its readings are too off for it to be standard explosives" said Polanski

"Captain I am picking up severe tectonic disturbances all over the planet originating from the drilling site" said Polanski.

"Our evacuation efforts?" said Sam

"Our holds nearly full and we've barely got over a thousand we've started filling up empty cabins and other storage areas" said Neru

" keep them coming even if you have to start filling corridors to do it" said Sam

"Captain someone just beamed down from the enterprise and the Nerada is firing up its engines" said Polanski.

Sam quickly sat down at the helm and strapped in. she fired up their engines.

"T'lin have they gotten pike back yet?" said Sam

"Yes captain enterprise reports him as being back aboard" said T'lin

"Great now patch me in to all decks" said Sam

T'lin moved her fingers to obey.

"This is your captain speaking, hang on to something the ride is about to get seriously bumpy" said Sam

She gave the signal to cut the transmission just as the Nerada pulled up its drill and jumped to warp. The planet below them looked like pieces were breaking apart from the continents. Sam reached for the warp controls.

"Captain we can't go to warp yet, it's not fully repaired" said Polanski

Sam's heart did a lurch they were going to die.

"Captain the enterprise is asking if we need assistance" said T'lin

Sam looked towards the other ship through the small rapidly closing gap.

"Tell them no and to save themselves" said Sam

Come on come on hurry she silently urged.

"They aren't moving captain" said Polanski

Through the last part of the hole Sam watched Vulcan collapse in on itself. The enterprise jumped to warp a second or so after

"Oh god!" said Sam

"Captain?" said Cho

Sam turned the ship away from the planet. They couldn't possibly outrun the debris wave at impulse speed.

"I'm sorry" said Sam

She started to say more when she noticed the last of the hole had closed. She hit the lever and jumped to warp. The sudden speed pushed her against the seat. Her fingers flew across the controls as she dodged around the debris in a desperate headlong flight out of the system. She ended up nearly inverting the ship twice and making so many sharp turns her stomach ached from the impacts against her harness. They were still running at top speed when Polanski told them they had successfully outrun the explosion. Sam pulled back the lever and dropped them out of warp.

"T'lin get me engineering" said Sam

She stood up and near took her seat.

"Polanski keep an eye out for the Nerada" said Sam

She turned towards T'lin, the woman was sitting there in shock. Sam swallowed she couldn't even begin to understand how it felt to watch your world be destroyed. The Vulcans were now an endangered species. All that was left was however many they had beamed aboard and what the enterprise managed to get. Speaking of which they really should get a count of them.

"T'lin do you need to go to medical?" said Sam

The Vulcan woman swallowed.

"No captain... I" said T'lin

"Would you like to take a moment to compose yourself?" said Sam

The Vulcan woman nodded yes

"You may use my ready room if you like" said Sam

The Vulcan nodded again and took the ear piece from her ear. She stood up and quietly walked towards the door leading to the captain's ready room. The door opened at her approach and then slid shut behind her. Every crew member on the bridge watched her silently go. When the door slid shut. Neru calmly walked over and took T'lin's place. Sam sat down at the helm again. She was reluctant to sit in that captain's chair and with at least one man down they had no one to fill the empty position anyways.

"Neru get me security" said Sam

"Yes captain" said Neru

Her voice was shaking and Sam could tell she was holding back the urge to cry.

"Security on com line two" said Neru

Sam hit the button.

"O'Malley here, what can I do for you captain?" said security

"Mr. O' Malley I need you and your team to get a count on all of our new passengers. You'll find them on all decks except this one" said Sam

She heard the other man whistle.

"Oh man, okay on it captain" said O'Malley

"Captain I've got engineering on line one" said Neru

Sam hit the button and answered him.

"what can I do for you captain?" said Trip

"Have you started those repairs yet?" said Sam

"Ah actually all I can do is patch it for now, anything else is going to mean dry docking her" said Trip

"All right do what you can we're heading back to earth" said Sam

She clicked off the line and took a deep breath. The ships log would note this but Sam felt she had to at least tell the refugees onboard what had happened. She forced the urge to cry away.

"Neru get me all decks please" said Sam

Neru complied just as the door to the captain's ready room slid open. Just the facts Sam decided they were a logical people and they wouldn't appreciate an overly sentimental retelling. Neru signaled that Sam was on the air. She slowly stood up and smoothed her uniform. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"This is your captain speaking, on star date 2258.42 at 1500 earth standard time the planet of Vulcan ceased to exist. The Romulan captain known as Nero was responsible for its destruction and I want you to know that Starfleet will make every effort to bring this criminal to justice. I apologize for the cramped conditions you find yourselves currently in, I have laid in a course to earth so they will be mercifully temporary, I am sorry for your loss, captain out" said Sam

She sat back down and wiped her eyes because the tears had gathered despite her best efforts. T'lin walked across the floor to her station. She looked composed at the moment but Sam wasn't fooled. Neru vacated the seat and let T'lin have back her station. Sam watched as near went back to the rail she had been standing beside. Sam groaned, the girl had no real station and here she was doing double duty.

"Neru take the helm" said Sam

The girl froze.

"Captain?" said Neru

"Yes, what is the problem Neru?' said Sam

She noted the antenna on her head was in a position that indicated embarrassment.

"I have never flown anything outside of a simulation" said Neru

Sam smiled at the girl.

"You've got to start somewhere, besides I already laid in the course all you have to do is keep us from hitting something" said Sam

Neru nodded and nervously took the seat that Sam vacated. Sam walked slowly towards the captain's chair and sat down.


	11. Chapter 11

Red11

Sam's heart was hammering, holy shit that was close. We're still alive, okay now breathe Sam and think she chided herself. If you were a self-righteous prick like Nero what would you do next? A cold sensation settled in the pit of her stomach when she came to that answer. Attack the earth, destroy anyone the Vulcans would go to for help. He wasn't just after destroying their world he wanted nothing short of genocide. She swallowed nervously.

"T'lin get me Starfleet headquarters, emergency channel" said Sam

T'lin didn't even question her as her fingers slid across that panel with quick efficiency.

"I'm not getting through captain the relay station must be down" said T'lin

"Or destroyed" said Cho

He said what Sam had been thinking already so she didn't bother to correct him.

"T'lin check on the captain for me" said Sam

"Mr. Cho anything on the enterprise?" said Sam

"No captain but its last heading was the Lorenceian system" said Polanski

Sam firmly resisted the urge to swear what the hell was their captain doing. Even if he reached the fleet they were already busy with a Klingon problem it's not like they could drop everything and come to their rescue.

"All right keep an eye out for them, hopefully they'll succeed in getting us a little back up, T'lin get me engineering" said Sam

She pushed more buttons.

"Engineering on line two. Message from the doctor on three, says that Terrell has a concussion and will be out of commission for a while. Mr. Hershey has a compound fracture to his right arm and he dislocated his shoulder same arm, it's his dominate arm so he also will be laid up for a while" said T'lin

Sam was relieved that at least they weren't going to die she had managed to advert their deaths at least. She flicked the switch for line two on the arm of the captain's chair.

"What can I do for you captain?" said Trip

"Trip I need you to get someone on those shield generators right away" said Sam

She glanced at the now repaired front section of their ship. They still had no front view screen but the hole was closed. There were several thin threadlike pieces that had spread from the spot in the hull. She suddenly had an idea, it worked for the hole in their hull.

"Trip get Reese up here with that plasma torch" said Sam

"Captain?" said Trip

"I'll explain later, please hurry" said Sam

Cho and the others glanced at her with confused looks. She could fully understand why but she really had no time to explain herself right now. A few minutes later crewman Reese exited the lift onto the bridge again. He stopped and looked to her for guidance.

"Cut those little tendrils off and take them down to deck six, then weld them over the section that covers our shield generators" said Sam

Reese moved to do so.

"Captain the regulations state that a new species or technology must be studied before it is allowed on a starship" said T'lin

Sam frowned, she was right it did say that.

"It does say that, but under the circumstances, emergency protocols demand I do everything in my power to make sure this ship is still in the air" said Sam

"Plus we're the only one out here" said Cho

Reese was done cutting and he stuffed the piece into the carrying container and headed for the lift. Twenty minutes later engineering called.

"Yes, go ahead" said Sam

"The holes are just about patched, but to tell you the honest truth I am not altogether easy using this stuff on our hull. What if it takes over the ship?" said Trip

"That's why we're docking at the station and sending our passengers down via shuttles" said Sam

"Good thinking, it is however working so far. I'll keep you informed of our progress" said Trip

He clicked off and Sam turned back towards the front screen

"One of our shield generators is showing a test sequence" said Polanski

Sam sat back and waited. The crew was all working to get the ship back up to fighting trim and Sam's only job was to oversee it at the moment.

"I've been informed that we can turn the shields on now" said Cho

"The reinforcement patches are almost complete" said Polanski

"Captain I found the Nerada its directly in front of us on a course for earth" said Cho

Sam's stomach fell. Oh crap why did she have to be right this time?

"The Enterprise?' said Sam

"No sign of her captain" said Polanski

"Are all our systems up and running?" said Sam

"Yes captain" said Polanski

"Neru lay in an intercept course, it's time to draw our line in the sand" said Sam

The girl nervously complied, she glanced at Sam once or twice nervously.

"T'lin take us to red alert, Mr. Cho fire up our weapons and target that ship. As soon as they are in range open fire, Neru be ready for some fast maneuvering"said Sam

The klaxon and flashing red light went off.

"T'lin go ahead and kill the klaxon, then get me all decks no better yet just tell everyone to hang on to something" said Sam

T'lin nodded and relayed the message to all decks. Right after she did so Cho opened fire. Neru was already turning the ship to reangle for another shot. Cho fired again, each shot squarely hitting the Nerada.

"Captain they are returning fire" said Polanski

"Evade" said Sam

Neru did so and the shots missed.

"Keep hammering them Mr. Cho" said Sam

She was counting on her ships maneuverability because it was smaller. Cho fired again and this time Neru didn't turn in time

"Shields still at full captain" said Polanski

Cho fired again and suddenly the ship stopped moving. Sam turned to look at Neru, she was frozen and shaking. The Nerada had fired again and Neru was frozen in fear. Sam climbed out of her seat.

"Move!" said Sam

Shaking still Neru vacated her seat. Sam hit the controls and maneuvered the ship out of the way of the blast.

"Continue Mr. Cho, Polanski monitor any damage we do" said Sam

Neru had moved back to her previous station and looked crestfallen. Sam didn't have the time or inclination to coddle her right now. She was too busy dancing their ship out from in front of the Nerada's guns and then giving her ship a clear shot and doing it again.

"Captain their shields have dropped 10%" said Polanski

He sounded excited and she didn't blame him

"Ours?" said Sam

"Still full" said Polanski

Beside her Cho's fingers danced across the firing sequence, spitting fire from each of their guns in no particular order.

"Captain I'm picking up the enterprise" said Polanski

"Good they can join us" said Sam

The Nerada fired again and Sam had to take the ship near vertical to avoid the shot.

"Reinforcements still holding captain, shields still at full" said Polanski

Sam turned the ship sharply and came up over the top of the Nerada. At this angle the ship was directly below them but their guns were at the top of their ship. Sam hit the port thrusters and barrel rolled the Reliant so Cho could fire.

She was very glad everyone had followed her example and strapped in because they were looking down at the ceiling at the moment Cho opened fire and she rotated the ship finishing the maneuver so they were now below the Nerada. It was at that point the Enterprise opened fire and Sam was given the double duty of avoiding their guns and the Nerada's.

Together they were chewing the larger vessel up and overloading its ability to regenerate.

"Captain a smaller ship just launched out of the Nerada" said Polanski

"Life signs?" said Sam

"One Romulan, also there is a radioactive signature similar to what they employed on Vulcan" said Polanski.

He gave T'lin a worried glance.

"Mr. Cho target that ship" said Sam

"But captain the proximity..." said Polanski

"Can't be helped right now, if that ship gets away it will do to earth what it just did to Vulcan" said Sam

She turned the ship sharply. Cho opened fire on the smaller vessel and then sent one more volley into the Nerada. The first few shots missed the smaller ship.

As they were leaving the close proximity to the Nerada Cho fired at the smaller vessel one last time and this time hit it. Sam jumped their ship to full impulse and streaked away from the smaller vessel before it exploded.

Boy did it explode the tiny ship went off like a nuclear bomb and using part of the Nerada made a black hole. Sam turned when she was beside the enterprise. Without a front view screen Sam had only the screen for the sensors on her display.

"Captain they are hailing the enterprise" said T'lin

"Acting Captain Kirk offered them assistance, they refused" said T'lin

She had a self-satisfied tone to her voice that conveyed she was pleased by their refusal.

"Very well Mr. Cho one last time, light them up" said Sam

The last of their torpedoes streaked towards the Nerada alongside those of the Enterprise. The Nerada went up in flames and the vessel was pulled apart by the black holes gravity. Sam turned her ship towards home.

"Captain the Enterprise is hailing us" said T'lin

She sounded better more at peace with what happened. Sam took a deep breath. She had kept her promise, Nero had been brought to justice.

"Put him through" said Sam

"Do you require any assistance?" said Kirk

Sam chuckled

"Naw, I think we're going to just limp back home now" said Sam

He chuckled

"Okay, we'll follow you home. Ladies first" said Kirk

Sam chuckled

"That's for elevators" said Sam

"Huh?" said Kirk

Sam chuckled and told T'lin to cut the feed.

"T'lin record this" said Sam

She pushed a few buttons and nodded in Sam's direction.

"At 22:00 earth standard time the federation vessel USS Reliant engaged in combat the Nerada captained by the Romulan criminal known only as Nero. A fight the Nerada subsequently lost and was sucked into the black hole they created" said Sam

She gave the signal to cut it

"Go ahead and transmit that to all decks" said Sam

She glanced towards Neru the girl was still cringing somewhat.

"Neru you've got the helm" said Sam

She stood up and stepped back. The crew turned and gave Sam a confused look. Neru stared with wide eyes, her antennae were down indicating she was ashamed of her earlier behavior. Sam gave her a level look and the girl inched closer. She gave Sam a look that said are you sure.

"I haven't got all day cadet" said Sam

Neru quickly sat down and rested her hands on the controls. Her antennae slowly came back up as her confidence returned. Sam sat down in the Captain's chair.

"Captain I have Mr. O'Malley on line two" said T'lin

Sam hit the button on the arm of her chair.

"Yes Mr. O'Malley" said Sam

"I've got that head count you asked for Captain" said O'Malley

"Great what are the numbers?" said Sam

"Ah they stand at 5,365 not counting crew members which ups the number by another twenty" said O'Malley

"Sorry Captain I had hoped the numbers would be higher too" said O'Malley

"No that's fine Mr. O'Malley you guys did the best you could, have medical go through and check for injuries" said Sam

"Already on it captain, O'Malley out" said O'Malley

"Neru can we do warp?" said Sam

She shook her head no.

"No captain the port nacelle is damaged, we are lucky we even still have engines" said Neru

Cho sighed and was frowning at his display.

"What is it Mr. Cho?" said Sam

"Captain, I've just been informed by our gunners that we melted the firing mechanism on one of the photon cannons and one of our phazers has gone missing" said Cho

Sam sighed

"Don't worry about it Cho they can replace her guns, just be glad you still got deck under your feet" said Sam

"Captain I've got engineering on line one" said T'lin

"Go ahead" said Sam

"Captain?" said Trip

"Hey Trip how bad are we?" said Sam

He let out a huff of air.

"Not as bad as I thought but she's still gonna spend a lot of time in dry dock. Speaking of which our docking clamps are damaged, so you might want to have them tractor us in" said Trip

"Will do thanks for the heads up, just do whatever you can to keep us in the air Trip" said Sam

She closed the channel and shook her head. Man this ship was messed up something fierce it would be a wonder if they ever let her on a ship again. It was relatively smooth sailing back to base if you don't count the starboard stabilizer going out and having to pilot the ship at a 45 degree angle to keep it from going into a spin. Needless to say by the time they reached the station everyone on the bridge had a sore spot on one side of their bodies.

The station tractored them in and extended a boarding ramp so her passengers could disembark. The Enterprise was pulling into the adjacent bay as Neru shut down their engines. Everyone sighed in relief and slowly stood up to stretch. Working the kinks out of abused muscles as they did so.

"Captain, O'Malley wants to know if he has your permission to disembark the passengers" said T'lin

"Yes of course tell him to go deck to deck if he has to. Have him coordinate with station security and set up some sort of survivor's roll call or something. We should try to reunite as many families as we can" said Sam

The turbo lift slid open and Terrell was standing there. Sam saluted him

"Captain on the bridge" said Sam

Terrell smiled

"At ease, there is already a Captain on the bridge. Lieutenant Morningstar" said Terrell

Sam blushed somewhat.

"How are you feeling sir?" said Sam

Terrell sighed and looked around the bridge, his gaze stopped at the repaired spot and he frowned.

"Much better since the doc let me out of the sick bay, still a bit of a headache though" said Terrell

The lift door slid open and out stepped a man in a medical uniform. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Terrell.

"You did good kid, go ahead and go, I've got this" said Terrell

Sam nodded and headed for the lift.

"Doctor Diaz" said Sam

She nodded in the doctor's direction as she passed.

Was Terrell mad about the damage to his ship? Or was he just sore because he missed everything? The lift doors closed and she leaned her head back on the back wall. She did it she got them all home safe and sound. That had to count for something right?

Sam exited on the deck they had attached the boarding ramp to. It was at that point she finally got a look at the refugees. Men women and children moved numbly towards the doors all in various states of shock. Sam suddenly felt bad for being in such a good mood in face of such a horrible tragedy. She blended in with the exiting crowd and headed for the door.


	12. Chapter 12

Red 12

The crowd was huge and slow moving but she eventually made her way down the exit ramp. She spotted Kirk talking to Spock. The Spock suddenly broke away from Kirk and headed for an older looking male Vulcan.

Sam frowned because the older man looked quite a bit like Spock. Jim spotted her and made his way towards her. Sam inched around groups of people and closed the distance. Now that the excitement was wearing off she could sure use a drink to calm her nerves.

As she got closer she noticed Kirk's face was all bruised up like he had gotten into a fight.

"What the hell happened to you?" said Sam

Kirk chuckled

"Had a bit of a disagreement with a Vulcan no big deal" said kirk

She laughed.

"no big deal? You look like someone took a baseball bat to you" said Sam

She spotted a med stretcher leaving the enterprise and raised an eyebrow. Kirk turned

"Pike, Nero did a job on him but at least he's still alive" said kirk

"You went over and got him?" said Sam

"Yeah" said kirk

"Thanks" said Sam

He left out he rest and Sam could tell he was thinking about his father and the captain he had served under.

"so acting captain?" said Sam

Kirk turned back to her with a grin.

"yeah Spock was emotionally compromised and stepped down" said kirk

"Let me guess the bruises were from convincing him?" said Sam

Kirk nodded and rested one hand on the back of his neck.

"um yeah, let me tell you they aren't kidding about how strong they are, damn they hit hard" said kirk

"I can see that, looks like you got trampled by horses" said Sam

Kirk frowned and Sam could tell he was trying to remember just what a horse was.

"so acting captain?" said kirk

Sam nodded

"Terrell got knocked out when we lost the front view screen and so did Hershey, I was the next one in line as the helmsman" said Sam

She was watching the Vulcans behind him. Several were finding loved ones within the group of people exiting the enterprise and still exiting her ship. Jim was staring at her ship. So she turned to see just what he was looking at.

From their position on the walkway they could see the torn metal that made up the outside of the ship where the view screen had been on the bridge. It looked positively horrendous, in fact the ship was a mess.

"Oh man trip is going to kill me" said Sam

"Considering your lucky to be alive I am sure he will let it go" said kirk

He left out the rest but she could understand what he was trying to say.

"So what took you guys so long to show up anyways" said Sam

A med stretcher was making its way down the Reliant's ramp. Med personal hovered near it but she could guess it contained Hershey. Ships personnel were starting to come down the ramp along with the Vulcans and the first of the shuttles heading for earth was taking off.

"we're going to have fun trying to catch a ride" said kirk

Sam turned her attention to the ever growing crowd of Vulcan's and Starfleet personnel waiting for a shuttle.

"Naw not really I'm sure they have enough shuttles" said Sam

Kirk nodded in the direction of someone approaching them and Sam turned. An older Vulcan was approaching them just a bit behind him were several more Vulcans they all looked like politicians.

Sam gave kirk a confused look, so he leaned in and whispered

"Ambassador Sarek and the Vulcan high council, also Spock's dad" said Kirk

Sam gave him a shocked look. Spock was the son of an ambassador? The man stopped in front of her. "Captain Morningstar?" said Sarek

"Actually It's lieutenant I was only an acting Captain, how can I help you ambassador?" said Sam

The Vulcan raised his eyebrow in shock. Sam privately vowed to buy Kirk a drink later, it was so worth a shot of the good stuff just to see a Vulcan shocked.

"I have it under good authority that you are responsible for this" said Sarek

Sam hesitated did he mean the damaged ship or the refugees?

"Ah to which do you refer?" said Sam

Sarek's eyes were focused behind her for a second but she saw just a glimpse of the pain he was hiding. She turned slightly and watched a couple as they embraced the child they thought they had lost. Sam had to turn away because she could already feel the tears gathering in her eyes. She shoved the feeling back and regarded the Vulcan in front of her. He looked vaguely impressed for some reason.

"I was told that you rescued several thousand of my people prior to Vulcan's destruction, I simply wished to convey my thanks on their behalf" said Sarek

Sam looked momentarily shocked

"Oh… ah your welcome" said Sam

Sarek nodded in her direction. Spock was walking towards them. He gave his father a strange look when he saw who he was talking to. He stopped a few feet from them

"Morningstar" said Spock

He seemed unusually tense but then again he did just have his world blown up.

"Father, I see you have met cadet Morningstar" said Spock

"Actually yes I was thanking acting captain lieutenant Morningstar for saving so many lives" said Sarek

Something dark passed across Spocks features then was gone. For a moment Sam had no problem seeing this Vulcan lose control long enough to beat someone into a pulp. Kirk's bruises were a testament to that.

One of the women walked up beside him and Sam briefly wondered if this was Spock's mother. The scathing glance she cast at Spock quickly quelled that notion. No mother would look at their offspring like that, that was the kind of contempt reserved for murderers or outcasts.

"Lieutenant is it? Do you happen to know the exact figures on how many you did retrieve?" said the woman

"Oh yeah O'Malley said he sent it to the flight deck I could ask him if you like" said Sam

She reached for the communicator on her lapel.

"Mr. O'Malley?" said Sam

"Hold on I'll put you through" said a voice she didn't recognize.

It must have rerouted through the station.

"O Malley here Captain what can I get for you?" said O'Malley

"I need those numbers again, I seem to have left my PAD in class" said Sam

O'Malley chuckled briefly

"I believe we're all guilty of that Ma'am, ah here they are. I had to revise them slightly because we found a few wee ones hiding in a couple cupboards and on the holodeck" said O'Malley

"Ah here's the new numbers that would be 5428 counting the crew and the wee ones" said O'Malley Sam frowned she could have sworn those numbers were a lot lower.

"Ah O'Malley exactly how many kids did you find?" said Sam

"Ah so far about 43 but were checking everywhere now. Don't want to miss anyone, they're towing this ship into dry dock soon" said O'Malley

Sam winced because she could only see a small percentage of the damage done to the Reliant and it was bad. It looked like someone had taken a bite out of some parts of it.

"Okay so far it stands at 5428 but they are still counting apparently, I'm sure whenever they are done they will forward the numbers to headquarters" said Sam

The old woman frowned at her then nodded and walked away from sam.

"You fit five thousand passengers aboard your ship? Forgive me for asking but isn't the passenger accommodations no more than a few hundred" said Spock

Sam winced

"Ah yeah that's kind of why we had them pretty much everywhere" said Sam

"Everywhere?" said Sarek

"Our halls, cabins, lounges, cargo holds you name it. They were full" said Sam

"Damn!" said Kirk

Sarek glared at him for the use of the profanity.

"Most impressive" said Sarek

Sam could feel her face turning red. She turned away and spotted T'lin leading a group of forty school age children down the ramp. Sam briefly wondered just how many of them were orphans now. Sam watched as McCoy and Diaz were busy helping check over the passengers coming off of both ships.

The group of elders were making their way towards the gathered refugees.

"Come walk with us" said Sarek

Sam blinked as the ambassador started walking towards the shuttles. Sam stared after him and kirk shrugged. She watched as Sulu was drafted to fly one of the shuttles and so was Neru. She wondered briefly if they would do the same to her, as she made her way towards the organized chaos that was the staging area. Sam politely stood in line with the group of refugees and Starfleet personnel.

She took the time to look around at the gathered group. It appeared that just the Enterprise and Reliant had survived the battle. The loud speaker announced a new arrival and Sam looked towards the empty docking areas. A ship was slowly pulling into the slip. The rest of the fleet was back from the Lorenceian system. The line moved forward and several people ahead of them boarded the waiting shuttle. Sam watched as the old woman and her group cut in front of a young family to climb aboard. She was certainly glad she didn't have to put up with them on her ship. Spock looked relieved when the doors closed. Sam spotted T'lin and her group and waved to the woman.

T'lin nodded back in acknowledgement, in her arms was a young boy possibly about four or five. The older man from earlier was staring at her for some reason. He really did look like Spock when you got a closer look at him.

"Is that man a relative of yours?" said Sam

Spock turned to look where she was looking and froze.

"in a manner of speaking yes" said Spock

Sarek looked confused and gave his son a strange look

"I will endeavor to explain at a later time" said Spock

Sam raised an eyebrow she would love to hear that conversation because she had a feeling it was a doozy. She looked at Kirk and he was smirking. Oh yeah he knew what was going on here, he was so going to spill later. Sam gave him a wicked smirk and he shifted nervously. Uhura was pushing her way towards them. She came up beside Spock and attached herself to his side. He didn't seem to mind. Uhura glanced around her.

Her gaze finally stopped on Sam and she gave Sam a small respectful nod that shocked Sam to her core. The next shuttle landed and Sam moved forward with the group climbing onboard. The medical shuttle was given clearance before them so they had to wait a few seconds. Uhura strapped in right next to Spock and appeared to be having a conversation with Spock's dad. Sam was slightly relieved she had no idea what to say to the man. I mean what did one talk to an ambassador about?

T'lin took the seat next to her and strapped the child in on the other side of her. Sam turned her attention to the children climbing onboard the shuttle with them.

"My nephew" said T'lin

To Sam's unspoken question.

"Oh!" said Sam in response.

Sam glanced at the front and found Sulu flying their shuttle. The last few Vulcan's climbed aboard and the doors closed. Sulu was given the clearance to take off and he did so quite smoothly. Sam kept her gaze firmly away from the window but she still flinched when they passed the reliant. The talking stopped from the ambassadors section and he simply stared at her ship. Sam could guess what he was thinking.

How did it even still fly? Sam shifted nervously when his gaze landed on Sam briefly. The man sat back and frowned. The shuttle was unusually quiet and Sam was wondered if that was normal for Vulcan children.

"So what's his name?" said Sam

T'lin blinked and tore her gaze from the damaged ship in the window.

"Ah Rowen" said T'lin

She gave Sam a nervous glance. Yeah she was thinking it too no need to say how close a call that was. Sam leaned forward so she could see the kid.

"Hi Rowen I'm Sam" said Sam

The boy gave her an uncomprehending look.

"He only speaks Vulcan, he hasn't yet learned any additional languages" said T'lin

Sam nodded in understanding, then in perfect Vulcan she tried the introduction again. This time she got a response. She had the kid near giggling by the time they landed. Sam had decided to tell them some fairy tales while they traveled and she had every one of the kids' attention squarely riveted on her retelling of sleeping beauty.

Mind she had to work to translate it into Vulcan but T'lin helped with the words she didn't know like dragon. When the shuttle touched down she found even the adults had been listening.

"An interesting rendition I do not believe I remember a dragon in the original text" said Spock

"I was going off the Disney versions sans the singing" said Sam

"Singing?" said Kirk

She waved a finger in his face at that wicked look

"no way forget it" said Sam

She was about to go on when someone softly cleared their throat. Sam looked down to see one of the other children standing there. It was a little girl with a haircut similar to T'lin's, oddly the sweeping tapering asymmetrical cut looked better on the kid.

"yes?" said Sam

"Why did she eat the apple?" said the girl.

Several of the other kids were staring at Sam like she suddenly had the answers to the behavior of the human race. Honestly she didn't know.

"You know, I never really understood why they didn't tell her that the evil queen was out to get her or even just not to take things from strangers" said Sam

"Was she stupid?" said one of the little boys

Sam shrugged

"Possibly most women at the time it was written had no formal schooling and she was raised in the woods by a bunch of fairies, so who knows what they taught her if anything at all" said Sam

The kid seemed to consider her answer and Sam was sure they were going to be thinking about it for a while. With any luck it would distract them long enough for them to forget their troubles for a while. The door slid open and people started unstrapping.

T'lin helped her nephew and then moved on to help the next child. Sam noticed the kid just stood there waiting for her without a single complaint. A couple of the older Vulcan's moved to help T'lin with her charges. Sam let them pass out the door first before following them out. It felt wonderful being on solid ground again. She stopped to take a deep breath. She watched T'lin make her way towards the refugee processing center Starfleet had hastily erected.

"So where to?" said Kirk

Sam headed for the main hall.

"Where are you going?" said Kirk

He hurried after her.

"To get my bag out of the lockers and then see if the spa in the gym is free" said Sam

Kirk smirked at her.

"Mind if I join you?" said Kirk

Sam shrugged

"That depends you gonna tell me what gives with Spock's twin?" said Sam

He pursed his lips and regarded her for a moment.

"Okay, that's worth it" said kirk

She raised an eyebrow.

"Is it really?" said Sam

She was messing with him now but it was just so much fun. He looked confused so she took pity on him "just teasing you farm boy" said Sam

"Okay you're never going to believe this, but its Spock" said kirk

Sam stopped walking to turn around and stare at him

"Say what?" said Sam

"He's Spock, but from another dimension. I know it sounds crazy and believe me I wouldn't believe it if...well let's just say he proved it" said kirk

"Proved it how?" said Sam

Kirk took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. He looked nervous and somewhat emotionally battered. Neither of them had an easy time of it at least as far as she knew.

"He did a mind meld" said Kirk

Sam rocked back on her heels. Vulcan's rarely did mind melds with humans unless they were mates, in the midst of pon far or the human was so lost in themselves that was the only way to get them to come out. She remembered it had taken one to get her to come out when she had freaked out over being in the future. Kirk didn't seem to be dealing with his all that well.

"So what did he show you?" said Sam

"Everything a whole lifetime worth of stuff you wouldn't believe, I just….I don't... Have you ever had one of them do it?" said kirk

"Yeah when I first got here they told me the year and I freaked out, like totally went catatonic. It took one of them to bring me out" said Sam

Kirk gave her an appraising look.

"so you know how…oh god I don't even know how to say it" said Kirk

"Violating it feels no matter how careful they are, yeah I know and I'm sure that's why they rarely do it with humans" said Sam

Kirk was looking behind her so Sam turned to look at what he was looking at. Uhura and Spock were walking towards a building together.

"Do you ever wonder if they're doing it?" said kirk

If she didn't know what he was talking about she would have so taken that the wrong way, especially given Kirk's reputation.

"I doubt it they are only dating I would imagine that would be reserved for something serious like marriage" said Sam

She honestly didn't want to even think about what another couple did in the bedroom let alone two people she really didn't feel comfortable around.

Kirk was frowning at the couple

"You don't think they're that serious do you?" said kirk

She wasn't really sure but she was glad someone was at least distracting Spock. He made her nervous for some reason that she really couldn't name.

"Don't know but if they are we should be happy they found someone at least" said Sam

kirk nodded he looked disappointed and she wondered if he was really interested or if it was just because Uhura had given him the brush off so many times. Kirk sighed

"Come on if we're going to do this we should do it before they call us in to debrief us" said kirk

Sam frowned she forgot about that part. It was another reason she had avoided the command track, she honestly hated having to explain herself. She groaned and followed kirk. The hall door was locked but somehow kirk managed to get it open. She was fairly certain he had picked the lock to do so.

She retrieved her bag from her locker and headed for her dorm to get her swimsuit. Kirk had suggested they didn't need anything at all to swim in but she didn't really want to take the chance of getting caught. The man had already gotten in enough trouble this week one more infraction might just be the one to get him kicked out and she didn't want that to happen. For some reason she believed kirk belonged here and she didn't want him to lose this.

She climbed the stairs to her dorm. No one was waiting for the elevator and her floor was eerily silent. Sam didn't want to really think about why. She wondered what Starfleet was going to do now that more than half of their students were gone. She pulled open her dresser and found her swim suit. As she held the two piece in her hands she was seriously starting to reconsider the bikini. Kirk would be getting an eyeful whether she wanted him to or not.

She walked into the bathroom and changed into it. As she walked out her Pad buzzed and she lifted it to look at the message. Great command wanted her to report for debriefing. She groaned out loud and pulled another uniform out of her drawers. She slid it on over the swimsuit and shoved a towel in her bag. She pulled her boots back on and threw the bag over her shoulder.


	13. Chapter 13

Red 13

Sam rolled her eyes and stepped out of her dorm building. So much for a bit of relaxation. You would think with all those Vulcans to take care of they would get a few moments of peace. At least until they remembered they existed. Sam marched towards the command building. During the whole march she was outlining what she was going to say and developing defenses for her less orthodox command decisions.

Butterflies were already dancing in her stomach as she climbed the front steps to the building. She stopped at the top and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. During the ride up to the fourth floor she reminded herself that she had not only ensured the survival of her ship but also a couple thousand Vulcans. She passed a window on the way to the Admiral's office and took a moment to evaluate the crowd of Vulcan's below.

It was really sad that this, and a few scattered throughout the system, were all that remained of the Vulcan people. Nero had just about caused their extinction, in fact the earth had come real close to joining Vulcan. If it hadn't been for them he would have succeeded. This steadied her nerves and she walked into the office.

A secretary looked up at her with a bored expression on her face. The woman hit a button.

"The Admiral will see you now" said the secretary

The door slid open and Sam walked into the office. The Admiral had his back to her and was staring out of the huge window in his office. He looked vaguely familiar, something about the slightly iron grey hair and the set of the man's shoulders. He turned slightly and regarded her silently.

"Well if it isn't my favorite bird of prey, hello Lieutenant Morningstar. Do take a seat" said the Admiral

A quick glance at his nameplate and she remembered his face with the name. Marcus, he was there after she took the Kobayashi. Sam calmly sat down. He took a seat across from her and picked up the pad in front of him.

"I was just reviewing the flight logs for the battle, most impressive" said Admiral Marcus.

Sam wasn't sure what he meant by impressive. She shifted nervously.

"You don't agree do you?" said Marcus

Sam swallowed because, no she didn't agree. That battle was much too close for comfort.

"No sir, with all due respect we got trounced out there, I hardly think that's impressive at all" said Sam The man smiled at her.

"No Lieutenant when you put it like that it wasn't impressive at all but I wasn't referring to the rest of the fleet. What I was talking about is the fact that out of twelve fully armed ships two of them returned, and one that had the least amount of fire power, managed to hold an enemy vessel until reinforcements arrived. That is what I call impressive" said Admiral Marcus

Sam could feel her cheeks heating up.

"The other thing is this" said Marcus

He turned his pad device so she could see the screen, on it a small rendition of the Reliant danced around the Nerada rendition. Suddenly the Reliant went vertical then came down partially and smoothly rotated into a loop before sling shooting itself around the underside of the Nerada and turning so the rear guns could fire. Sam frowned at the pad.

"I do not understand sir" said Sam

Marcus chuckled.

"No I don't suppose you would. After viewing this I took the opportunity to browse our library looking for this maneuver. Do you know what I found?" said Marcus

Sam shook her head no because she had no idea what he had found.

"This flight maneuver didn't exist the only thing that comes close is a two plane version of the cobalt starburst, but without the plasma ignition" said Admiral Marcus

Sam gave him a confused look so she made up a maneuver so what? She was trying to get Cho a shot who cares how she did it.

"You have no idea what that means do you?" said Marcus

Sam shook her head no.

"It means that this maneuver will have to be included in the flight manuals and since you were the first one to perform it, they will more than likely name it after you" said Admiral Marcus

Sam's mouth dropped open. Her name was forever going to be included in a Starfleet manual. That was so cool but wait.

"But sir I'm only a cadet" said Sam

Marcus chuckled

"Not for long I am going to recommend that the battlefield promotion stand, In light of your recent performance I am also fast tracking you into the command program. I believe the rest of the admiralty will agree with me when they see this, that your abilities are wasted anywhere else" said Marcus

Sam was shocked to say the least.

"I am giving you shore leave for the next couple of weeks, campus will be closed until then anyways. I will expect a completed report on my desk when you return for the memorial service" said The Admiral

She looked down at her lap. The old man sighed.

"I know what you want to say lieutenant and I agree with you, those kids had no business even being out there. They weren't ready by any stretch of the imagination" said Admiral Marcus

"No sir they were not" said Sam

He nodded at her and she slowly stood

"Your dismissed lieutenant have a fun few weeks" said Marcus

Sam walked out of the door feeling slightly numb and in shock. She was still going to keep her commission, and they were putting her in the manual. She was practically skipping when she reached the elevators. Kirk was coming out of an office when she reached the third floor so Sam held the door for him. He looked as happy as she did. As soon as the doors closed they turned to each other and said simultaneously

"You're never going to believe…"

Sam giggled

"You go first" said kirk

"Naw go ahead" said Sam

He smirked at her.

"They're dropping the charges, I still have some make up stuff to do and I'm banned from telling other cadets how I did it, but they aren't kicking me out. I even get to keep my commission and get this, I could get the enterprise when they are finished repairing it" said Kirk

"Get?" said Sam

That almost sounded like they were giving him a ship and that can't be right.

"As it's captain, for real this time. Isn't that great?" said Kirk

He sounded so completely ecstatic that Sam was happy for him too

"So wait are they planning on skipping a whole rank or something?" said Sam

"Well I guess, I did earn the rank of lieutenant second grade and Pike did bump me up a grade, so I could be first officer and they did just say that stands. So I guess the next step would be commander, but then again they did just loose more than half of their commissioned officers" said Kirk

He looked pointedly at sam. She frowned, if you put it that way then she supposed a jump in rank made perfect sense. She had to admit with his looks and natural charm Kirk would make the perfect poster boy.

"Well?" said Kirk

She gave him a confused look.

"Your turn" he said

"Oh!" said Sam

She didn't know where to start.

"Well I'm keeping my rank, and they're fast tracking me into command" said Sam

Kirk frowned at her.

"You don't sound very enthused about that" said Kirk

She shook her head.

"No I'm not, not really. I wasn't really planning to do this as a career" said Sam

Kirk shrugged

"Bit late for that now" said Kirk

Sam sighed and rested her head against the wall behind her.

"There was something else" said Kirk

She nodded in agreement.

"One of the maneuvers I did isn't in the manual" said Sam

He raised his eyebrows in shock.

"You do know what that means right?" said Kirk

She nodded yes.

"You deserve it,that was some fancy flying you were doing" said Kirk

Sam nodded yes.

"I wasn't trying to impress anyone. I was just trying to give Cho a shot" said Sam

Kirk clasped her shoulder.

"That's precisely what you did, so cheer up I've got a few weeks of shore leave, what about you?" said Kirk

Sam smiled at him. He was trying to cheer her up, subtly was definitely not his strong suit. She honestly doubted anything really was except maybe being a starship captain and possibly annoying your superiors. She doubted that actually counted as a skill. She was just glad they hadn't kicked him out and that he had shown up when he did up there.

She had really begun to doubt they were even capable of bringing that ship down. She was beginning to see why Marcus was gunning to have more weapons on their ships. She certainly would have welcomed some serious firepower out there.

"Me too, so where should we go?" said Sam

The lift doors slid open and they walked out.

"I have a few ideas" said Kirk

Sam gave him a strange look` when he wasn't forthcoming with any more information.

"So out with it" said Sam

He chuckled

"You'll see just go pack for a few days" said kirk

She opened her mouth to protest but he just gave her a smug look. His dorm was the closest to the administration building so he parted ways with her before she could wheedle any information out of him. It was annoying and she was sure he was up to no good but she went with it anyway.

She trudged back to her dorm room changed out of the uniform and stowed her swimsuit in a small duffle bag. She packed mostly civilian clothes. She shook her head at that mental statement. When did she start thinking that way? She sighed Marcus was right she needed a vacation. She slid on her sandals and through her bag over her shoulder.

Tucked the pad thing in one of the pockets and headed for the door. She found Kirk waiting downstairs. She almost didn't recognize him because he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Draped casually over one shoulder was what looked like a leather bomber jacket. He looked good like that, she decided right away. He looked her up and down and smirked.

"Ready to have some fun?" he asked

Sam nodded and he headed for the transports. There was a public air taxi waiting for them. Jim climbed in when they got there and the driver took their bags. He shoved them into the back. She climbed into the cab. Sam sat back in the rather cozy seat and waited for Jim to tell the driver where they were going.

"Mag Lev station please" said kirk

"Mag Lev?" said Sam

Kirk smiled at her and the taxi cab took off.

"You've never been on one?" said Kirk

Sam shook her head no.

"No what are they?" said Sam

"I'm not sure the exact technology, Scotty could probably tell you that, what I do know it's the fastest way to get from one place to another" said Kirk

"Scotty?" said Sam

Kirk grimaced

"Yeah long story that, picked him up on Delta Vega apparently admiral archer is still miffed about his dog" said Kirk

Sam frowned trying to place an Admiral Archer in her mind or something about a dog.

"the transporter accident?' said Sam

Kirk nodded yes.

"they never found the dog" said Sam

Kirk nodded yes again. Sam gave him a worried look

"And you just what, let him on the ship?" said Sam

Kirk chuckled

"Actually he got us both back on board the enterprise" said Kirk

Sam frowned again this time in confusion.

"But you just said you were on Delta Vega and your ship was heading for the Lorenceian system last I saw it" said Sam

Kirk gave her a very surprised look, that look almost impressed. He nodded yes.

"Spock marooned me on Delta Vega after I tried unsuccessfully, the first time, to get him to go after Nero. Scotty apparently perfected his Trans warp beaming theory and we hitched a ride back after Spock got rebuffed by the fleet" said Kirk

It took a moment for his words to fully sink in.

"What, oh my god tell me you didn't" said Sam

He looked away in obvious embarrassment, which gave her the answer. The blood drained from her face and she almost got sick.

"Oh my god, you could have ended up in the engine you idiot!" said Sam

He was looking way too calm an like he was hiding something. She hit his arm hard.

"Tell me you didn't end up in the engine" said Sam

"Ouch l…, no of course not, that hurt! Why'd you hit me so hard" he whined

She glared at him

"Because dipshit you could have ended up in the warp core or worse and he's not here for me to smack too" said Sam

Kirk looked genuinely shocked

"Or worse?" he said

She glared and he didn't say anything more. She stewed for a few seconds cursing up a storm in her head.

"Where did you end up?" said Sam

He grimaced again, and when he didn't answer right away, she raised her hand to hit him again

"Okay. Okay, it was the coolant intake, but they got me out in time" said Kirk

She smacked him anyways, repeatedly.

"Okay enough stop already, I know it was dumb alright, geez woman lay off!" said Kirk

He held up his hands in surrender. Appeased she stopped hitting him but only because he was contrite about it, she still thought they were idiots for even trying it in the first place. She was just relieved they hadn't been killed in the attempt. The cab pulled up in front of a strange looking platform with three huge tubes coming out of each end.

Sam stared at it in confusion. It looked vaguely like those tube things they used to have at her mother's bank for the drive up window.

"Look if it will make you happy, I promise not to do anything that crazy again" said Kirk

She glared at him because that promise was about as flimsy as a swimsuit made of rice paper. She climbed out of the cab and took her bag from the driver. Kirk retrieved his bag and they headed for the building. Sam looked back at the driver as he climbed back into his car. She still had an issue with the lack of currency after all this time. Call her a capitalist but people deserved to be paid for their time. She climbed the stairs behind Kirk.

He held out his hand to her as the area started to get crowded. The doors slid open and they were in what looked like a futuristic train station. Kirk looked at a display then pulled her towards one of the turbo lift bays. They waited as one by one the turbo lifts stopped, filled up and then left again. When it was their turn Kirk pulled her into the car. It climbed to the third in a set of aerial platforms and the doors slid open. Sam had been trying to ignore the glass wall that made up one side of the turbo lift, when Kirk suddenly grabbed her and pulled her forward.

He dragged her towards a line and stopped. Sam took the time to finally look around. The track was a huge metal and glass looking tube with several openings at different intervals. A yellow marked area indicated the wait area which contained five lines. A floating sign hovered above to opening. Sam studied it for a few minutes until Las Vegas flashed across the screen. She gave kirk a look and he tried to look innocent. He failed miserably but only because she knew better.

A humming sound suddenly filled the station and what looked like huge soda cans pulled up to the spaces. Doors on the side slid open and the people in line moved forward. Twelve people climbed aboard and the doors closed, they moved forward in the line. Sam did a quick count of the people in front of them and noticed Kirk would be the cut off for the next group. She tapped his shoulder.

"You make twelve" said Sam

He looked confused for a few seconds, then suddenly it dawned on him what she was trying to say. Kirk turned to the guy behind Sam.

"Hey buddy want to change places I want to ride with my girl" said Kirk

Sam was too stunned to protest the declaration.

"Yeah sure no problem" said the guy

He moved forward and Kirk took his spot.

"Thanks buddy I really appreciate this" said Kirk

"No problem gets me there faster" said the man

Kirk wrapped his arms around Sam and she froze in shock. What the hell was he doing? He nuzzled into her neck and kissed it.

"I'm sorry" he said

She knew what he was referring to so she reluctantly accepted his apology.

"You worry me when you do things like that" said Sam

He hugged her tighter.

"I know and I'm sorry I'm just not used to... you know" said Kirk

"Having someone worry about you?" said Sam

He nodded yes, she turned because she could only see his shadow move.

"Yeah, well besides my mom that is" said Kirk

He said that like he didn't really believe she did care about him. Sam knew from what McCoy had said that Kirk had a difficult relationship with his mother because he hated his stepfather. She could relate to that, she just didn't have to deal with it any longer.

"Or McCoy" said Sam

She grinned at him and Kirk chuckled.

"Yeah or McCoy, I think he's worse than my mom though "said Kirk

"Yeah, at least your mom doesn't have access to tranquilizers" said Sam

He got this horrified look on his face and did a full body shiver.

"Thank god" said Kirk

The hum filled the chamber again and Sam looked at her watch. Ten minutes holy cow that thing was fast. The doors slid open and the group ahead of them vanished into the tube the doors closed at that one was gone too. The line moved forward and now they were in the front.

"So what are we going to do once we get there?" said Sam

"Don't know never been there before" said Kirk

She turned towards him and he released her so she could step back.

"Why not?" said Sam

He shrugged

"Never wanted to" said Kirk

She gave him a look and he sighed. He never was any good at keeping secrets from her.

"Frank went there all the time, he offered to take me once but I refused. He wanted to do some father son bonding shit and I just wasn't interested" said Kirk

She nodded in understanding Greg had tried something similar with her and she had likewise been uninterested. It was something they had in common, stepfathers who were nasty pieces of work.

"Mine wouldn't have had the money to go there all the time he spent all of his time at the Indian casinos when he wasn't drinking himself into a stupor" said Sam

Kirk stared at her and then rested his hand on her shoulder. She didn't really talk about her family and he knew that. She just didn't like remembering they were gone, so long ago. He suddenly hugged her and she rested her head on his shoulder.


	14. Chapter 14

Red 14

Kirk was someone she could easily see herself falling for. That's why he was so dangerous because truthfully she wanted to fall for someone. She was honestly tired of being alone. The station filled with the hum again and the car came to a stop in front of them. Kirk guided her into the car and showed her where to stow her bag.

She took the seat below where she had stuffed her luggage and kirk sat down next to her. He grabbed the safety harness and pulled it over her shoulders. Then did the same with his. The harness reminded her of one of those harnesses you see on a roller coaster. The door slid shut and suddenly she was pressed back in the seat as the car rocketed through the tube.

She felt as if something was sitting on her chest and just when she thought she was going to hurl the car slowed to a stop. Kirk unlatched his harness and released Sam's. He grabbed his bag and thrust Sam's bag into her numb fingers as he guided her out of the car.

He ushered her towards the exit and the next group of people loaded into their vacated car. Kirk guided her towards the outer doors of the station and right into the blinding sun. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust and she stared in shock. The station had been adjacent to what looked like the Luxor or at least she was pretty sure it had been at one time. Now it was a ruin of broken glass and exposed girders.

Kirk was frowning as they slowly made their way down the station stairs. Sam looked around all of the casinos were in a state of disrepair some even looked like something had shot them up. Cars still went down Las Vegas Boulevard but they all appeared to be driven by old people.

"what the hell?" said Sam

Kirk frowned and walked towards the public transport pulling up to the curb. It looked somewhat like a light rail except it floated a foot or two off the ground. Kirk climbed aboard and Sam dazedly followed. "the war most likely" said kirk

"What war?" said Sam

Kirk sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"The eugenics war, this area was hit especially hard for some reason most of the buildings on this end of the strip are abandoned until you hit the red light district" said kirk

He gave Sam a look and then turned away.

"You knew about this the whole time didn't you?" said Sam

Kirk nodded and Sam was starting to get pissed. She opened her mouth to tear him a new one and he held up his hand.

"Just hear me out okay" said kirk

She frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I heard you talking to your roommate about this place and that you had been intending to come here instead of staying in star fleet. I knew you must have been thinking about the way it used to be or at least I hoped you were." said kirk

He gave her a worried look.

"The casinos are all shut down now except for a few that cater to nostalgic off-worlders. The rest is red light district and retirees, peppered liberally with dealers of illegal substances. Now do you see why I didn't want to come here?" said Kirk

He left unsaid that he didn't want her to come here either. Sam's mouth dropped open in shock as they passed ruin after ruin. The street began to subtly change the casinos looked like they were used as hotels at least and signs cropped up in Vegas neon for services she had never heard of, followed quickly by ones she had heard of. They passed a burnt building and Sam caught a glimpse of the sign amongst the ruins. It was the club she had been heading to Vegas to work at.

"when did that burn?" said Sam

Kirk glanced over at the burnt building and shrugged.

"I have no idea" said kirk

"The war" said a cracking voice

Sam turned to find an old woman sitting next to her.

"the eugenics war?" said Sam

The woman nodded

"My great, great grandmother used to work there back in the day, she told my grandmother what had happened that day" said the woman

Sam frowned she wanted to hear more but she was uncomfortably reminded that she should look older than this woman did.

"Why, what happened?" said kirk

"It was just an ordinary day until he swept in, started killing people when they wouldn't answer his questions. My great grandmother fled out the back door and watched from an alley as he burned the place" said the woman

"What were the questions?" said Sam

The old woman looked lost in thought for a moment.

"She said he was looking for someone, a girl I think. She said something about the girl was supposed to start working there but never made it in" said the woman

Sam's insides went cold and she had the unmistakable urge to throw up. It must have shown on her face because Kirk looked worried.

"He who?" said Kirk

"The news said his name was Khan after he had already destroyed most of Vegas by then" said the woman

The train slowed to a stop and the old woman rose to get off.

"Wait your great grandmother what was her name?" said Sam

The woman turned and frowned at Sam

"Her name was Kayla why?" said the old woman

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock.

"No reason, thanks" said kirk

The woman nodded and got off the train before it pulled away. Sam was shaking so she grabbed the support bar.

"Sam are you all right?" said Kirk

He looked and sounded worried about her. Sam wanted to shout no, she wasn't all right at the top of her lungs, because Kayla had been the name of her friend that had gotten her the job at the club. The job she never made it to. A job that had been burnt to the ground by a man who bore the same name as the man in her dreams. There was no way he could have been real, could he?

"Sam, talk to me your scaring me" said kirk

When she didn't immediately answer he reached for his com intent on calling bones. As soon as there was an empty seat kirk guided her into it.

"Talk to me Samantha, what's wrong?" said kirk

"That woman, I….I knew her great grandmother... She... oh crap I'm going to hurl" said Sam

The train was slowing to a stop so Sam ran for the door. Kirk followed her out and stood awkwardly by while she emptied her stomach into the dirt next to some dead plants. Kirk reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want to leave?" said kirk

Sam nodded yes, this was definitely not the fun week she had envisioned.

"She's the one that got you that job didn't she?" said Kirk

Sam nodded yes and slowly stood up. She felt less nauseous now.

"That was what you were going to do for a living?" said Kirk

She was still bent double so she had to look up at him. He sounded upset.

"Yes, why?' said Sam kirk let out a string of curse words and paced briefly.

"Have you no self-respect?" said Kirk

Sam was starting to get angry now.

"I needed the money and yes for your information I do have some self-respect, it was a long time ago and I had no useful job skills, so lay off!" said Sam

Kirk ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"Look I'm sorry, I've just been trying to figure this whole thing out. It just doesn't make any sense" said Kirk

He looked at her pointedly. No Sam admitted it didn't make any sense if you looked at the facts out of context. She wasn't sure she wanted to share the rest of the content with Kirk or anyone.

"Why would some super human dictator even bother with a place like Vegas? Who was he searching for so bad? Too bad she couldn't remember the name" said Kirk

"We never asked" said Sam

It was true they never did ask who he was looking for because Sam had been afraid of the answer.

"You thought it was you didn't you?" said Kirk

Sam nodded yes because more than likely that answer was accurate.

"Not that it matters now but how did you know a super human dictator slash criminal?" said Kirk

Sam shook her head no. She did not want to go there but Kirk was pulling her down that path, damn him.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" said Sam

Kirk grabbed her arms and looked her dead in the face.

"Try me" said Kirk

She eyed him warily.

"That depends do I have your word that you won't share this with anyone?" said Sam

Kirk seemed to be thinking about it for a moment. He had been about to reply when a woman walked up to Kirk.

"If you're looking for a better time honey look no further" said the woman

Sam gave her a once over and immediately thought hooker.

"Get lost lady I'm not interested" said Kirk

The woman gasped in shock then trounced away. Kirk looped his arm around Sam's waist and led her back to the tram stop this time on the side leaving the district. The station was deserted on this side so Kirk turned back to her.

"You have my word, nothing you say here will pass my lips again" said Kirk

He looked completely serious so Sam believed him.

"I used to have these dreams when I was a child, incredibly vivid dreams. So vivid that the sights and smells followed me out of the dreams sometimes" said Sam

Kirk frowned but nodded at her to continue.

"One day this boy started appearing in my dreams, he was in some sort of lab or medical facility. I made friends with him and we sort of grew up together, his name was Khan" said Sam

Kirks eyes widened in shock but he didn't interrupt.

"One day I showed up in the lab like I always did and something was different, they weren't where they normally were. So I looked for them" said Sam

"They?" said Kirk

"Yeah they there was about eighty of them but I only really talked to Khan, we got close and sort of bonded. Well anyways, they weren't where they were supposed to be so I went looking. I found them in a gas chamber slowly being poisoned to death while the scientists that raised them had a party"' said Sam

She could hear the anger creeping into her tone but she didn't care.

"What did you do?" said Kirk

It didn't sound accusing just curious so that calmed her down.

"I let them out of the chamber and they started killing people so I fled. Except some of the smoke followed me and my father thought I was doing drugs so he kicked me out" said Sam

Kirk was staring at her in shock.

"You let him out?' said Kirk

"Yes he was my friend even if I only thought he was in my dreams he didn't deserve to die that way" said Sam

Kirk rocked back on his heels and rubbed his hand down his face.

"He was real obviously" said Kirk

He nodded in the burnt clubs direction. Sam looked away.

"I thought he was a dream" said Sam

Kirk nodded in understanding

"It scarce matters now anyways, he's long since dead" said Sam

Kirk nodded yes but didn't look all that certain to her eyes. It was obvious to her that Kirk was looking at her own miraculous survival and wondering if Khan had been similarly frozen.

"We should leave" said Kirk

Sam nodded yes that was a primo suggestion there was no way she was staying here now, not after what he had done. Her eyes fell on the ruined Vegas skyline. He must have been seriously angry to do this level of damage, was it because he couldn't find her? The tram pulled up and they climbed on board. They were heading back to the maglev station. Suddenly Vegas didn't seem all that fun anymore.


End file.
